New Electoral Act Amendment 85% Completed – Senate
Chairman Senate Committee on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Senator Kabiru Gaya, has rekindled the hopes of Nigerians on the proposed provisions and changes to the 2010 Electoral Act (as amended) as he declared that 85% of the Act has been amended by the National Assembly.
Gaya told LEADERSHIP Sunday in an exclusive interview that the National Assembly is working round the clock with other stakeholders like INEC and the office of the Attorney General of the Federation to ensure the speedy passage of the new amendments into law in the first quarter of 2021.
He noted that the National Assembly had deemed it necessary to work with the office of the AGF to avoid a back-and-forth when the Re-enactment Bill is finally transmitted to the President for assent.
“We are working together with the Anthony General’s office, because we know if we pass the Bill to Mr President to assent, he will ask for the their consent. But if they are carried along into the preparation, they will simply advise the president to sign.
“We have also brought all the stakeholders, including INEC Committees, ranging from the national chairman down to all the staff of INEC to bring out their contributions and we also did public hearing for their inputs for what we are suppose to do. So far, we have amended about 85% of section of the Electoral Act, he declared.
Worried about the controversies, cost and security implications of inconclusive elections as expirienced in the country in the past, the former Kano State Governor, now representing Kano South at the Senate, said one of the major highlights of the amendment is the controversies on inconclusive elections as a result of over voting or the death of a candidate.
The new provision, which is slightly different from the extant provision, seeks to empower INEC to declare the results of an election null and void only if votes cast in a polling unit exceed the number of accredited voters, not just registered voters as it is practise today.
This means INEC can not extend an nullify or extend an ongoing election on the ground of over voting.
He said in cases where parties are disqualified based on the gap of five or ten votes, the new provision also allows INEC to work with the accredited voters documents and results should be announced after counting.
“There is no point for inconclusive elections where it would create conditions for more spending and more troubles. Inconclusive elections are the most violence elections than the main elections, said Senator Gaya, who noted that they have made “provisions for punishment of elections offenders base on the new electoral Act”.
Gaya who also hinted on the current debate over the presidential zoning formula of his party, the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) after the expiration of President Muhammadu Buhari’s second term in 2023, told Leadership that although he do not believe in the idea, it would be unfair for anyone to nurture the ambition to retain power in the north after eight years in the region.
He said that will only negate the principle of fairness but will also work against the unity of the country and its democratic development.
“We need to be fair with ourselves. If a president comes from the North and served for eight years, automatically and in fairness, in true politics, we should allow the South to produce the next president.
“That is my own view. I believe the president should come from the southern part of Nigeria and the vice president from the northern part of the country to enhance our democracy and consolidate the unity of the country.
SOURCE : LEADERSHIP
