The House of Representatives has approved a third amendment to the Electoral Act. Under the new amendment, the registration of voters can end 30 days before elections, instead of the 60 days earlier stipulated.
With this amendment the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) now has a full month to consider whether to extend the ongoing registration of voters. The registration which kicked off on January 15 was billed to end on January 29.
However, for the new amendment to sail through it has to receive the support of the Senate and the accent of the president. When the Senate resumed yesterday after a four-week break, David Mark, the Senate President declared that by virtue of the existing law, the electoral commission has no right to move the date.
Still under consideration
Mr. Mark told his colleagues, “I have heard INEC talk of extending the time. I am sure that they are aware that they do not have the authority to do that.” He added that he was “generally optimistic” about the possibility of the electoral body successfully registering the millions of “enthusiastic” Nigerians, but said he found no confidence in the ongoing process.
The commission said an extension was being considered as technical hitches continue to leave many unregistered in the final week of the exercise. With clear-cut legal and cost implications, INEC has delayed an announcement on whether the registration will go beyond the stipulated January 29.
Section 9(5) of the 2010 Electoral Act currently in use requires every process of registration to end 60 days to any election covered by that law, implying that any extension, even by a week, leaves about 55 days before the first election slated for April 2.
The Senate yesterday invited Attahiru Jega, the commission’s chairman to appear before it today. He is to answer questions on the conduct of the exercise, less than a week after the House committee on Electoral Matters held what it described as, “essentially supportive” talks with him.
The senators said they will reach a decision on whether to allow the commission the luxury of more time after meeting with Mr. Jega, though such an amendment may not exceed 10 days.
But the House hurried through a mandatory three readings of the new amendment sponsored by 20 members led by Ita Enang, (PDP Akwa Ibom) to give INEC 30 extra days to complete registration and the display of the register.
“Section 9(5) of the principal Act is amended by deleting the figure ‘60’ in line 2 thereof and substituting same with the figure ‘30’,” the amendment said.
While the senators may be pressing for two weeks, the Representatives said their choice of 30 days was to allow INEC complete the exercise and have sufficient time to display the register as required by the law.
After the passage, the lawmakers approved the Votes and Proceedings to allow the chamber’s position to be officially communicated to the Senate for assent. But an eventual approval by the Senate and the President, which may take days, means a decision by the electoral body on an extension may arrive later in the week.
The first amendment to the 2010 Electoral Act was passed by the Senate on January 5, 2010. The amendment allowed the forthcoming general elections to be moved from January to April 2011 as requested by the INEC.
The Senate on December 15, again passed 47 clauses in the second amendment and withdrew section 87 (11) which had already being passed by the House of Representatives, making lawmaker part of the National Executive Council of political parties.
Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everydayAdvertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com