Inconclusive elections: 2019 polls in danger, says Senate

Worried by the trend of inconclusive polls and postponement of elections by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the Senate on Tuesday declared that the 2019 general election is in danger.

With the absence of Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) in 20 of the 36 States, the Senate noted that the electoral body cannot conduct any election at the moment.

Adopting a motion sponsored by the Deputy President of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu, the Senate observed that non-appointment of RECs to fill the 20 vacancies was in breach of Section 14 (2) of the Third Schedule of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).

To this end, the upper legislative chamber called on President Muhammadu Buhari to immediately nominate suitably qualified persons to fill the vacant positions in INEC in line with the 1999 Constitution to enhance the capacity of the electoral commission to conduct conclusive elections.

It further called on the commission to immediately conclude all pending elections in the country, while mandating the Senate committee on INEC to hold a public hearing to review the performance of INEC in the last one year with a view to ascertain the factors that may have caused the perceived decline of the electrical system.

INEC was further directed to conclude the delineation of additional constituencies across the country. The decision of the Senate is expected to be forwarded to President Buhari for compliance.

Commenting on the motion, Senate President Bukola Saraki who presided over the session, urged INEC to conclude elections in the affected constituencies. “Buhari should ensure that those vacant positions should be filled,” he stated.

Ekweremadu while explaining what inconclusive elections portend for the nation’s democracy, said the whimsical postponement of elections are wrong signals and symptoms that cannot be dismissed with the wave of the hand.

The Enugu lawmaker noted that the trend of inconclusive election has left both chambers of the National Assembly and some State Houses of Assembly without the full complement of their membership, while millions of Nigerians are left without representatives for a long period of time.

“The developments at few electoral exercises carried out so far by our electoral umpire has left much to be desired being a research sample of the entire population.

“We are worried about the fate of the 2019 general elections in the face of the present state of inconclusive elections and postponements. We are worried that the trend of inconclusive elections and whimsical postponement of elections are wrong signals and symptoms that cannot just be dismissed with wave of hands,” he said.

Co-sponsor of the motion and Leader of the Senate, Ali Ndume, in his remarks, said lawmakers cannot see “something going wrong and fail to do anything as a Senate. I wonder where INEC derived the   power to postpone elections anyhow. It is better to take wrong decisions than not to do at all.”

Deputy Leader of the Senate, Bala Na’Allah said: “The combined effect of Sections 42 and 70 made it compulsory for the President to recognize the diverse nature of Nigeria. It will be unjust for certain sections of Nigeria not being represented in the National Assembly where critical decisions are taken.”

Eyinnaya Abaribe declared that elections conducted so far by INEC are illegitimate if only one third of the Commission is filled.