Propose termination of governorship poll disputes at Court of Appeal
The House of Representatives has passed for second reading a bill proposing the conduct of presidential, gubernatorial, National and state Houses of Assembly polls the same day.
The proposed legislation was among 39 Constitution alteration bills passed by second reading and referred to the Committee on Constitution Review, at yesterday’s plenary.
The bill, which is sponsored by the Chairman of the House Committee on Rules and Business, Francis Waive, Ikeagwuonu Ugochinyere and 34 others, is proposing for the simultaneous conduct of all the elections on a date to be determined by the Independent National Electoral Commission( INEC).
The Electoral Act 2022 provides for the conduct of the presidential and National Assembly election on the same day and the conduct of gubernatorial and state assemblies elections on a separate date to be fixed by the electoral body.
Similarly, the House approved for second reading a bill proposing the determination of all appeals from Election Petition Tribunals before the swearing in of the President elect, Vice President elect as well as members elect of the National and state assemblies.
The bill, which is sponsored by Mansur Manu Soro and titled: “A bill for an Act to alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, to provide for the determination of all appeals arising from election petitions tribunals prior to the swearing-in of president-elect, vice president-elect, governor-elect, deputy governor-elect, members-elect of the national and state assemblies and for related matters,” is proposing alteration of Section 285 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).
The proposed alteration reads “that all appeals arising from the presidential, governorship, national and state assemblies election petition tribunals shall be determined by the appellate courts prior to the swearing-in of candidates returned as winners by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).”
Furthermore, the parliament is also seeking to alter the 1999 Constitution (as amended) to make the Court of Appeal the final arbiter in litigations arising from governorship, national and State assembly elections.
The bill was sponsored by the member representing Ndokwa East/Ndokwa West/Ukwuani Federal Constituency of Delta, Nnamdi Ezechi.
Currently, Section 233 of the 1999 Constitution ( as amended) vests on the Supreme Court the power to determine the validity of a gubernatorial election, while Section 246(3) of the Constitution provides that the Court of Appeal shall be the final arbiter in dispute arising from the National and State Assemblies elections.
Also, the Green chamber passed for second reading a bill for the establishment of the National Local Government Electoral Commission to be saddled with the conduct of local government elections in the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory ( FCT).
The bill, which is sponsored by the deputy speaker, Benjamin Kalu, and six others, according to the sponsors, is intended to ensure ” the credibility, transparency, and fairness of local government elections and promote democratic governance at the grassroots level.”
Furthermore, the House passed a bill to alter the Constitution to specify the timeframe within which the Executive shall present to the National Assembly any treaty between Nigeria and any other country.
The proposed legislation, which is also sponsored by Kalu, stipulates that any treaty between Nigeria and any other country shall be presented to the National Assembly not later than 180 days for ratification.
