The House of Representatives at its plenary session on Wednesday 13th March 2019 urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) not to subvert the will of the people by declaring elections inconclusive after a motion of Urgent National Importance was moved by Hon. Sunday Karimi (PDP: Kogi).
Moving the motion, Hon. Karimi alluded that the high incidence of inconclusive and supplementary elections that had been declared by INEC since the 2015 Governorship election in Kogi had led many Nigerians to refer to the electoral umpire as the “Inconclusive National Electoral Commission”.
While admitting that the Constitution empowers INEC to come up with guidelines in relation to the elections, Hon. Karimi worried that some portions of the Guidelines were in conflict with the 1999 Constitution (as amended). He also queried why the Governorship elections in six states (Benue, Bauchi, Kano, Plateau, Sokoto and Adamawa) were held to be inconclusive by the Electoral Management Body despite the leading candidates meeting the criteria provided in Section 179 (2) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended). In addition, he called on the Commission to adhere to the provisions of Constitution as to do otherwise would erode the confidence of the electorate in their mandate and in the electoral process as a whole.
Contributing to the debate, Hon. Diri Douye (PDP: Delta) blamed the inconclusive elections on the National Assembly stating that members often prioritized their political parties before the national interest in law making. Also contributing, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila (APC: Lagos) suggested an amendment of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and the current Electoral Act. He also cautioned members who were trying to interpret the law stating that such power resided with the judiciary alone.
The spokesman for the House, Hon. Abdulrazak Namdas (APC: Adamawa) in his contributions which he described ”as a problem with desperate politicians” called on politicians to change their attitude toward elections and refrain from using resources to influence the electoral process or officers on election duty. He further stated that lawmakers amend relevant laws to make it difficult for politicians to influence the electoral process.
The House resolved to set up a Committee to advise it on the next line of action following Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila’s comment that an interpretation of INEC’s power to declare an election as inconclusive was already before the Courts.
