7th March, 2018
PRESS RELEASE:
BILL
REORDERING ELECTION SEQUENCE IS BELATED
The Nigerian National Assembly
(NASS) recently reordered the election sequence which has been in operation in
the country since 1999. In the new bill, NASS wants the national exercise which
has always started with the presidential election, to start with elections into
the NASS.
The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) roundly rejects the
proposed amendment of election sequence. It is belated, parochial, myopic,
self-seeking, extravagant and unpatriotic. The bill is an attempt to usurp functions
of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and intimidate the
electoral body. Reordering is a threat to democracy. It is a bill from hell. Mr.
President should withhold his signature.
By seeking to
kick-start the elections with that of the NASS, Nigeria’s lawmakers have
demonstrated their intention to call attention to themselves. They are
therefore more interested in benefiting themselves instead of benefiting the
country. At a time the country is reeling under a harsh economic situation, a
proposal which extends the election from two-phases to three phases and adds an
extra cost amounting to a whopping two billion naira is nothing short of a
manifestation of a prodigal son mentality.
Nigerians should think about what
this extra N2 billion can do for the country. The Federal Government recently
confirmed that it pumped N2 billion into the second Niger Bridge. It has been
observed that Nigerians spend three out of every ten years in traffic. Now, instead
of wasting more money on changing the election sequence, why can’t we spend
that N2 billion on building at least one pedestrian bridge in every Nigerian state
capital? It will bring huge relief to road users and extend the life span of
the average Nigerian. Unfortunately Nigerian lawmakers are only thinking of
themselves.
INEC released the election timetable on 9th
January. Coming long after INEC had released the election time table, the proposed
change in election sequence is bound to throw up logistic complications for
INEC. Logistics is central to elections. Planning must be done with microscopic
accuracy. Every little detail matters. Again, INEC should have been consulted
before proposing the bill but our lawmakers failed to do that. The proposal
should have come twelve months earlier, long before INEC released its own
timetable. Why did the NASS wait for so long? Is there a hidden agenda?
Who do we blame if
more hitches surface during elections? Can we hang it on the same INEC which
has rejected proposed change? Already, INEC has warned that a poorly planned
election is an invitation to chaos. Nigeria will become the laughing stock of
the whole world if that should happen. This bill must therefore be seen as the
handiwork of confusionists and anarchists.
It must also be noted that
the proposed reordering of election sequence violates the letter and spirit of
the Electoral Act which gives INEC the sole power to organize elections and fix
dates.
In conclusion, we call
on President Buhari to reject the bill on the grounds that it is belated, illegal,
wasteful, illogical and capable of worsening electoral tension. Reordering the
election sequence is also a threat to democracy and an attempt to undermine the
independence of INEC.
Professor Ishaq Akintola,
Director,
Muslim Rights Concern
(MURIC)
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