Shehu Sani reveals why National Assembly changed the order of 2019 elections
With the amendment made by Nigerian federal legislators, the National Assembly election is to hold first, followed by gubernatorial and state assembly polls and the presidential election will be the last to be conducted in 2019.
- The National Assembly has since adopted the reordered sequence of 2019 general elections
- The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had last year changed the sequence
- Senator Shehu Sani gives reasons why the NASS took the decision
The National Assembly recently amended the Electoral Act to change the order of 2019 general elections’ time table.
This came barely a month after the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) released the time table for the general elections.
With the amendment, the National Assembly election is to hold first, followed by gubernatorial and state assembly polls and presidential election to be conducted last.
Senator Sani is one of vocal senators in the Nigerian Senate. Photo credit: Channels TV
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While the debate on the NASS decision is still on, Senator Shehu Sani (APC, Kaduna Central) has given the reason why the decision was taken.
“We changed the sequence of elections so as to give all political parties a level playing ground during elections.
“The new sequence will arraign each candidate, alone in the dock before "Justice Electorate".
“The new sequence will prevent mass trial,mass conviction,mass acquittal and mass burial of candidates or politicians,” the senator wrote on his Facebook page today, Thursday, February 8.
Meanwhile, the European Union on Thursday, February 1, re-affirmed its commitment to supporting Nigeria’s electoral process with the launch of a programme aimed at promoting transparent, inclusive and credible elections in the country.
The programme tagged EU Support to Democratic Governance in Nigeria (EU-SDGN), is a €26.5 million (over N11 billion) initiative.
NAIJ.com gathered that the initiative is funded under the 11th European Development Programme (EDF), over a five year period.
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Source: Naija.ng