The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it
cannot postpone the governorship elections in Ondo and Edo states despite the
COVID-19 pandemic.
Festus Okoye, INEC spokesman, said the commission could lose
its right to fix election dates if it fails to conduct the two polls within the
constitutional time frame.
INEC announced the dates for the Edo and Ondo elections as
September 19, 2020, and October 10, 2020 respectively.
But fears of the pandemic have led to calls for the
commission to reschedule the polls to later dates.
Speaking during an ARISE TV programme on Monday, Okoye said
though the 1999 constitution gives INEC the leeway to fix the date for
elections, it provides a deadline for doing so.
He said: “Section 178(1) says that it is the function of
INEC to fix the date of elections, but Subsection 2 says that an election to
the office of the governor shall be conducted not earlier than 150 days and not
lesser than 30 days to the expiration of the tenure of the last holder of the
office.
“The implication is that the governor of Edo was sworn in on
November 11 and we must conduct the governorship election in Edo state on or
before October 13, 2020; while that of Ondo state must be conducted on or
before January 25, 2021.
“The truth of the matter is that the country is faced with a
situation of conflicting rights. The rights of the Nigerian people to elect
their representative and also their rights to life, not to go to a polling
units and die.
“So, we recognise there will be problems (and) challenges,
but we are on point and we are determined to deliver on our mandate. Because,
if we fall off outside the constitutional window, the implication is that going
forward, the commission does not now have rights and wherewithal to pick the
date of election.
“It now falls to the political authority maybe under section
180 of the constitution or under section 305 of the constitution giving the
situation that we are in.
“It is not as if that we are insisting, it is the
constitution that is insisting that we must proceed with this particular
election.”
Okoye added that the timetable and schedule of activities
for the two elections will be released on June 1.
Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com