ABUJA- MOVES by the Senate to have a soft landing on the proposed amendment on substitution of dead presidential, governorship candidate in elections yesterday ended in deadlock, as Senators were again sharply divided on the matter.

A source told Vanguard that the executive session of the Senate yesterday was held to soften grounds ahead of discussions to avoid shouts and threats to fight, but the aim was yesterday defeated as the lawmakers failed to arrive at a common ground.

According to the source, the Senators were again sharply divided on the modalities for the amendment of the Electoral Act 2010, which encapsulates the procedures for elections and highlights operational procedures of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

It would be recalled that attempt by the Senate November 1 to amend the Electoral Act 2010 to provide for the substitution of a dead governorship or presidential candidate before the announcement of result with the first runner-up in the party primary suffered a major setback as it ended in a deadlock.

The Senate was forced to suspend the consideration of the amendment bill following sharp disagreements on the floor on who should assume the candidature of a party whose candidate dies in the middle of an election.

At yesterday’s closed door session, the issue of the bill was the subject matter and at the meeting, discussions were a bit heated on two main issues in the Electoral Act.

It was gathered that there were disagreements on the proposed direct and indirect primaries for determination of candidates by the political parties, even as the Senators were said to have again raised questions on who should be the rightful candidate to assume the ticket in the case of the death of a candidate midway into an election.

The source said, “the meeting was primarily on the Electoral Act, we decided to hold the Executive session to avoid rancor and to ensure that what happened in Kogi state following the death of Abubakar Audu and that of Abia where the issue of tax papers came up. The disagreements were centered on these two issues.”

It was also gathered that the Senators advised against that clauses have to be introduced to avert a situation where technicalities would be used to cause tension in the polity such as what happened in Abia state where tax returns were used to almost remove the governor.

It was gathered that at the end of the meeting, the lawmakers agreed on one of the issues as they settled leave the issue of Direct primaries to be determined by the political parties.

The source said, “It was concluded that the parties could become hamstrung if the National Assembly fixes the mode of primaries in the Electoral Act.”

It would be recalled that The Senate had on November 2 failed to pass the Electoral Act amendment bill through the third reading even when the lawmakers had already devolved to a committee of the whole and had passed some sections.

Deliberating on the report of the Senate Committee on the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC on a Bill for an Act to Amend the Electoral Act No. 6, 2010 and for other related matters, (S.B.231 and S.B.234), the Senate decided to suspend further discussions on it as it was inconclusive and against the backdrop of some controversial causes.

In his presentation, Chairman, Senate Committee on INEC, Senator Abubakar Kyari, APC, Borno North had said that the amendment to the Electoral Act became important because Nigerians wanted a situation where the 8th Senate would come up with a modern and better electoral law altogether and one that would deliver credible electoral outcomes through processes that were sustainable and consistent with global best practices.

Senate’s amendment of the Act was designed to put an end to a repeat of the crisis which came up following the death of the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Abubakar Audu during the November 2015 gubernatorial election in Kogi State.

It was a move by the Senate to solve all the problem that may come up from the death of a presidential or governorship candidate.

The resolution to suspend amendment of the electoral act along this line was arrived at owing to the contentious nature which debate on the matter could assume when subject to consideration.

The Senate was dissatisfied with the recommendations of the panel which focused on the mode of substituting dead candidates and it became imperative to refer the report back for further legislative input.

The amendment which was among several amendments being carried out on the Electoral Act 2010 was meant to amend Section 36 of the Electoral Act “by inserting a new sub-section ‘3’ which provides for the substitution of a candidate of a political party who dies before the declaration of the result of an election with the first runner up in the party’s primaries (which was won by the deceased candidate.”

Section 3 reads that ” if after the commencement of poll and before the announcement of the final result and declaration of a winner, a nominate candidate dies, the chief National Electoral Commissioner shall, bring satisfied of the fact of the death, proceed with the election after allowing the political Party whose candidate died to substitute the late candidate with the person who scored the next highest number of lawful votes in the primaries, which was won by the deceased candidate, as if the substituted person was the candidate originally nominated by that party.”

According to the amendment, ” the new insertion(section(3) fills a lacuna in the law- which was recently made manifest in Kogi State where a candidate died before the final result of the governorship election was announced.”

Following some irreconcilable differences, the Senate was however forced to suspend the amendment because it was not satisfied with the committee’s recommendation on the mode of substituting dead candidates as debate on the matter was contentious.

Accordingly, the senators resolved to send the bill back to the committee for further legislation and consultation that will lead to a more acceptable recommendation.

Other recommendations by the Committee include Clause 7(section 4 of SB. 234) of the amendment of section 38 of the Electoral Act was deleted, as it is in conflict with sections 132(3) and 178(3) of the Constitution.

The open disagreement which divided the Senate along the two lines of argument forced the Senate President, Bukola Saraki to ask that the bill be sent back to the Committee on INEC for further legislative work.


http://news.bestnaira.com/posts/view/lawmakers-divided-over-soft-landing-for-amendment-on-substitution-of-dead-presidential-governorship-candidate-in-elections

Okay


#Atiku2019

Unserious people