Posted by By ISMAIL OMIPIDAN, Abuja on
The Senate has affirmed the power given to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) by the Electoral Act to postpone elections indefinitely in the event of the death of any candidate in the forthcoming general elections.
The Senate has affirmed the power given to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) by the Electoral Act to postpone elections indefinitely in the event of the death of any candidate in the forthcoming general elections. It also approved the extension of the voters' registration earlier scheduled to end on Tuesday.
These were contained in amendment the Senate approved on the Electoral Act on Tuesday.
Flagging off debate on the amendment, Senate Leader, Alhaji Dalhatu Tafida, urged senators to seize the opportunity offered by the amendment to set time limit for the INEC in the event of the death of any of the candidates before elections, since, according to him, Section 37 (1) of the Act did not do so.
To this end, Senator Jonathan Zwingina, through a motion, proposed that the INEC should be empowered to postpone election by 30 days in the case of the death of any candidate. The motion was seconded by Senator James Manager.
Contributing to the motion, Senator Tunde Ogbeha said he understood that aspect of the Act to be applicable only to presidential election, adding: "You can't stop election in Kaduna State as a result of a candidate's death in Kogi."
Although most senators spoke in favour of Zwingina's motion for the approval of a time limit for postponement of the election, Deputy Senate President, Alhaji Ibrahim Mantu, who presided in the session, reasoned that since the clause in question was not part of the major clauses to be considered for amendment, it would be advisable to leave it as in the original Act.
In the end senators rejected Zwingana's motion on time limit when it was put to vote. They voted for the retention of the provision in the original Act, which did not specify time limit for election postponement.
The Senate also amended subsection 5 of the Electoral Act, which reduced the number of days the voter registration should stop, from 120 days to the scheduled date of the first general election, to 60 days to the scheduled polls. By this, the voter registration would now end on Friday this week.
The Senate, while also approving the continued use of the Direct Data Capture Machine, also amended subsections 5 and section 21. Section 21 now stipulates that supplementary voters list shall be integrated with the voters register and published not later than 45 days before a general election.
Both the Senate and the House are expected to hold a joint conference committee to harmonize positions of the amended Electoral Act before sending same to President Obasanjo for his assent.