Aminu Tambuwal, governor of Sokoto state and former speaker
of the house of representatives, says empowering the Nigerian Communications
Commission (NCC) to determine electronic transmission of election results is
unconstitutional.
On Thursday, the senate finally passed the electoral act
amendment bill after the contentious issue of the transmission of election
results electronically was debated.
During the clause-by-clause consideration of the bill, Sabi
Abdullahi, deputy senate whip, proposed that the NCC must certify that national
coverage is adequate and secure, while the national assembly must approve
before the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) can transmit
election results.
But Albert Bassey, senator representing Akwa Ibom
north-east, kicked against the idea and said the initial proposal made by the
committee should be retained.
After a rowdy session and using a “division” voting method,
the senate eventually retained Abdullahi’s amendment after a 52-28 vote.
In a statement, Tambuwal said the decision on electronic
transmission of result must be left with INEC.
“The decision of the Senate to subject INECs constitutional
power to conduct elections to the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), and
National Assembly is patently unconstitutional,” the statement reads.
“For the avoidance of doubt, S.78 of the Constitution
provides that “The Registration of voters and the CONDUCT of elections shall be
SUBJECT to the DIRECTION and SUPERVISION of Independent National Electoral
Commission”. In Third Schedule, Part 1,F, S.15: INEC has power to ORGANISE, UNDERTAKE
and SUPERVISE all elections. The Constitution further provides that INEC
OPERATIONS SHALL NOT be subject to the direction OF ANYBODY or AUTHORITY.
“Unquestionably, the mode of election and transmission are
critical parts of the CONDUCT, SUPERVISION, UNDERTAKING and ORGANISATION of
elections in Nigeria. Of course the National Assembly has power to flesh out
the legal framework but that has to be consistent with the Constitution.
“These constitutional powers have been solely and
EXCLUSIVELY PRESCRIBED BY THE CONSTITUTION to INEC, and CANNOT BE SHARED WITH
the NCC, or any other Authority, and certainly not a body unknown to the
Constitution. The Senate decision to subject INECs constitutional power to
conduct elections to NCC is consequently patently void, unconstitutional and
unlawful.
“We had earlier counselled that that the mode of conducting
elections and in particular the transmission of votes be left with INEC who
would monitor developments and determine at every election the type of
technology to be deployed to ensure free, fair and credible elections.
“INEC also has constitutional power backed by the Electoral
Act to make rules and guidelines to ensure that every vote is counted and that
every vote counts.”
Tambuwal said if INEC determines that electronic
transmission is not possible in any part of the country, it would, by
regulations, determine the appropriate thing to do.
He, however, commended the house of representatives on its
“wise” decision to call on INEC to address the country on its readiness to
deploy electronic transmission technology for elections in 2023.
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