From Rashidat AbdulRahman, Minna
Niger State House of Assembly has urged Governor Abubakar Sani Bello to direct state Independent Electoral Commission (NSIEC) to suspend the November 5, 2022 slated local government council election in the state for non-compliance with the extant law.
The resolutions followed a Matter of Urgent Public Importance presented by Member Representing Bosso Constituency, Malik Madaki Bosso Tuesday at plenary.
Bosso explained that NSIEC from NSIEC’s recently published timetable for the conduct of local government council election, party primary elections are scheduled between August 20-27, while election proper holds on November 5.
The lawmaker stressed that there are approximately thirty nine days of between thee primary election and election which is less than 180 days provided by the law.
According to him Section 29 Sub Section 1 of the Electoral Act provides that every political party shall not later than 180 days before the date appointed for a general election under this act, submit to the commission in the prescribed forms, the list of the candidates the party proposes to sponsor at the elections, who must have emerged from valid primaries conducted by the political party.
He added that Section 20 of the Niger State Local Government Council Election Law 2002 provides that election to local government council shall be in accordance with the provisions of the electoral act and local government law and any regulations made under Section 19 of this law.
Bosso decried that NSIEC will run afoul of the law if it goes ahead to conduct the council elections in the state as scheduled in the timetable.
Contributing to the motion, Member representing Bida One Constituency, Bako Kasim Alfa and Member representing Suleija Constituency, Shuiabu Liman Iya affirmed that as true representatives of the people, issue of insecurity ravaging the state should be a thing of concern not issue of conducting local government elections as most of the local government areas are ransacked by banditry.
They added that state government is even struggling to pay salaries of civil servants because of economic downfall while university students remain at home over ASUU/FG face off.
They therefore, stressed that House of Assembly as an arm of government must look inwards to brace up in areas like security of the citizenry.
The House, therefore, directed the NSIEC to suspend the scheduled timetable and to comply with Section 20 of the Local Government Election Law, 2002 and Section 29 Sub Section 1 of the Electoral Act, 2022.
