A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Edo, Mr Peter Esele, on Sunday in Benin advocated permanent, irreversible dates for elections in the nation’s calendar.
Esele, one-time governorship aspirant in Edo and former President of the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, said like Independence Day, marked every Oct. 1, election dates should be made permanent.
He said that it was wrong of INEC to tinker with election dates and fixing them indiscriminately.
INEC rolled out a new timetable for the 2023 general elections on Feb. 26; hours after President Muhammadu Buhari signed a long-awaited Amended Electoral Bill into law.
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INEC Chairman Prof. Mahmoud Yakubu, announced in the timetable that Presidential and National Assembly elections would take place on Feb. 25, 2023, instead of Feb. 18 announced earlier by the Commission.
Reacting to the new date, Esele declared: “we can’t be having elections dates tampered with. No.
“If we have fixed dates, then political parties will also follow suit concerning delegates’ conferences and primaries.
“In other parts of the world, these things are fixed. You don’t dilly-dally or tinker with such dates.
“Everyone works and plans with such dates.
“When you start playing with dates, you create room for distrust; you create room for lack of transparency and also manipulation of the process.
“INEC should move beyond dropping and changing dates.’’
Esele also commending Buhari for signing the Electoral Act as amended into law and stressed that INEC should regard the new Act as an opportunity to improve on its processes.
He noted that areas of contentions had been addressed.
“I think gradually with the Electoral Act, we are raising the bar for a fair electoral process.
“Hopefully, we will no longer have cases in court for years and courts will no longer decide our elections,’’ he said.
Speaking on amendments to the Constitution at the National Assembly, Esele opined that personal interests were involved.
He decried any attempt by the National Assembly to include immunity clause for its principals in the Constitution as enjoyed by presidents, governors and their deputies.
Esele said while the Executive has fixed tenure of maximum of eight years at a stretch, lawmakers could remain in office for as long as they kept winning elections and should, therefore, not be entitled to Constitutional immunity.