2011: Presidential poll to hold first

Written by Daily Trust Friday, 23 July 2010 03:47

Presidential and National Assembly elections would be the first to be held next year, to be followed a week later by governorship and state legislative elections, according to changes to the Electoral Act approved by the Senate yesterday.

Previously, presidential elections were held after the governorship elections, except for the 1983 general elections when the top-down approach to the elections produced a landslide victory for the ruling NPN at all levels.

But top opposition politicians yesterday condemned the decision of the Senate, saying it amounted to rigging the elections even before they were held.

Section 26 of the Electoral Act 2010, which was passed by the Senate yesterday after a clause-by-clause vote, states that the next general elections should be held on days to be appointed by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and in this order: “(a) The National Assembly and Presidential Election (b) Governorship and State House of Assembly election.”

In the original draft bill presented by a Senate committee that reviewed the 2006 Electoral Act, chaired by Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu, the procedure was that the National Assembly elections would be held first, followed by governorship and state legislative polls, and the presidential poll was to come last.

But during the debate on the clause, Senator George Thomson Sekibo (PDP, Rivers) argued that presidential election should come first because “during the 2007 general election the governorship election was held first and we all saw what happened because immediately after the election the result of the presidential and National Assembly election was certain.”

Responding, Senate President David Mark said, “The committee has already argued it and arrived at the decisions on this, that is why they recommended this. But if the Senate so wishes to change it, let me put the question.”

When Mark put the question, majority of Senators voted “aye!” with a few “nays!”

Briefing newsmen shortly after the plenary session, spokesman for the Senate Ayogu Eze (PDP, Enugu North) defended the decision thus: “We have precedent election where the election was adjudged of the freest and fairest elections ever conducted in Nigeria. A lot of us have very good relationship working with our governors, so the issue of fear of governors does not arise in this matter. We are responding to aspirations and yearnings of Nigerians so that they can be involved and participate actively.”

But the House of Representatives, which also passed the bill yesterday, did not stipulate an order for the conduct of the next general elections. Under section 25 of the bill, the House simply said the federal and state elections should be conducted on dates to be set by INEC.

Former governor of Lagos State, Senator Bola Tinubu, in a reaction to the new order of elections prescribed by the Senate, said holding presidential election first was what led to the collapse of the Second Republic.

He said the chaos and confusion generated by the decision of the government of the then National Party of Nigeria (NPN) was partly responsible for the coup that toppled the regime of President Shehu Shagari.

“It is not acceptable. In the Second Republic, it created chaos. There was intimidation after the so-called landslide victory of the president and it led to the crisis that ended the republic,” he said.
Tinubu, who was a member of the defunct Unity Party of Nigeria (UNP) led by late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, said “it is rigging”, therefore “unacceptable”, and pledged to launch “serious protest” against the plan. He said also that by its action, the Senate had usurped the powers of INEC.

“They can’t impose this on us. In fact the president should not sign it into law even if they eventually harmonise this position with the House of Representatives,” he added.

Former Kaduna State governor Abdulkadir Balarabe Musa, in his reaction, said starting with presidential election will bring about “bandwagon effect” becauseopportunists will troop to the party of the president-elect in subsequent elections.

He said the new order of election would compound Nigeria’s “one-party” situation in which the ruling People’s Democratic Party controls 95 per cent of elected officials at all levels.

The new electoral law also set a deadline for submission of election candidates by political parties at not “later than 60 days before the appointed date for the general election.” Political parties have also been barred from substituting candidates, “except in the case of death or withdrawal by the candidate.”

Section 32 (4) gives every Nigerian the right to demand for information about any candidate contesting election from INEC upon payment of prescribed fees.

The Senate and the House are expected to set up a conference committee to harmonise the differences in the bills passed for onward transmission to President Goodluck Jonathan for assent.