Senate Gives INEC Freedom To Determine Voting Process
The Nigerian Senate on Thursday gave the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) the freedom to determine the procedure for voting, after it passed some amendments to the Electoral Act.
According to The Nation, the lawmakers, however, rejected a proposal which seeks to make presidential debates compulsory before any election as contained in the report of the Senate Committees on the Review of the 1999 Constitution and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), captioned: “A Bill for an Act to amend the Electoral Act, 2010 to provide for Tenure of Office of Secretary, power to issue duplicate voters card, determine voting procedure and for other related matters, 2014.”
Related: Senate Amends Constitution: Now INEC Can Deregister Parties That Fail To Win Seats
The proposal which requested that the responsibility of proving irregularities in any poll should be placed on the electoral body was also rejected by the senate, saying, the burden of proof on electoral irregularities during election should rather be placed on the petitioner.
Below is an excerpt from the Victor Ndoma-Egba-led committee report:
"On the other hand, a number of proposals were rejected by the committees. Some of the proposals rejected are: Senate Bill 297 – (Sought to vest the responsibility of proving the regularity of any election on the Independent National Electoral Commission). The Bill was rejected in its entirety as the committees were of the view that in law, the burden of proof lies with the petitioner" it states. "Senate Bill 266 (Amendment of Section 25 to empower INEC to conduct elections into the office of the President, governor, Senate, House of Representatives and State Assemblies on the same day) – The committees agreed that INEC lacks the capacity to manage an electoral exercise of that scale in a single day. Senate Bill 379 (Amendment of Section 28 – to provide alternative authority for officers to swear oath of neutrality).
"This was rejected as it was already covered in Bill 455. The Senate Bill 379 (Amendment of Section 87 to empower INEC where a political party fails to comply with the provisions of the Constitution or Electoral Act, to exclude the nominated candidate of that party from the list of nominated candidates for the election. The committees noted that the court is the appropriate forum to determine the regularity or otherwise of a party primary. The Senate Bill 266 (Amendment of Section 100 to make Presidential Debates mandatory before an election). Election debates, the committees felt, should remain outside the purview of the law".
Related: Senators Consider Presidential Role in Initiating New Constitution (UPDATED)
Meanwhile, several committees were set up when the need for a constitutional amendment arose following calls from some Nigerian lawyers who posited that the country requires a constitution that will have impact on the lives of the citizens as against the one drafted by past military administrations. The issue was also discussed at the ongoing National Conference set up by President Goodluck Jonathan.
Source: Legit.ng
