The Nigeria’s electoral umpire, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has fixed January 22 or April 23 for the conduct of election into the office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria during the upcoming 2011 polls.
However, the dates fixed according to INEC are depending on the outcome of electoral reform bills now before the National Assembly.
INEC Chairman, Prof. Maurice Iwu who proposed the dates in Abuja yesterday Iwu at the opening of a three day national conference for stakeholders in the electoral process with the theme “2011 General Elections: Issues and Challenges,” said the presidential election could hold on any of the two days or any other day, depending on the final contents of electoral reforms laws.
In his remark, the Senate President David Mark assured that the Electoral Act will be amended and made ready for use during the conduct of the next year’s general elections.
Mark who spoke through the Chairman of the Senate Committee on INEC, Senator Isiaka Adeleke, also foreclosed the use of electronic voting machines in the 2011 elections. He said the most important thing is to get the electoral system right before plunging into electronic voting.
The term of the current administration headed by ailing President Umaru Yar’adua ends on May 29, 2011 and elections are due by April next year under existing election laws.
But, the reformed electoral laws ultimately enacted by the National Assembly could force an election date in between the two dates proposed by INEC.
“We have prepared two provisional schedules for the elections. What this means is that whatever the National Assembly comes up with, it is incumbent on the commission to modify these dates to accommodate the provisions,” Iwu said.
The provisional time table also states that elections to the National Assembly could hold either on January 8 or April 9; while the governorship/state assembly elections are slated for January 15 or April 16.
While saying that for all elections in 2011, the votes will be counted at the end of the polls in every polling centre, Iwu said the commission is by this rule committed to eliminating the possibility of “those miracles” that had been known to happen in the past between polling centers and collation points.
However, the dates fixed according to INEC are depending on the outcome of electoral reform bills now before the National Assembly.
INEC Chairman, Prof. Maurice Iwu who proposed the dates in Abuja yesterday Iwu at the opening of a three day national conference for stakeholders in the electoral process with the theme “2011 General Elections: Issues and Challenges,” said the presidential election could hold on any of the two days or any other day, depending on the final contents of electoral reforms laws.
In his remark, the Senate President David Mark assured that the Electoral Act will be amended and made ready for use during the conduct of the next year’s general elections.
Mark who spoke through the Chairman of the Senate Committee on INEC, Senator Isiaka Adeleke, also foreclosed the use of electronic voting machines in the 2011 elections. He said the most important thing is to get the electoral system right before plunging into electronic voting.
The term of the current administration headed by ailing President Umaru Yar’adua ends on May 29, 2011 and elections are due by April next year under existing election laws.
But, the reformed electoral laws ultimately enacted by the National Assembly could force an election date in between the two dates proposed by INEC.
“We have prepared two provisional schedules for the elections. What this means is that whatever the National Assembly comes up with, it is incumbent on the commission to modify these dates to accommodate the provisions,” Iwu said.
The provisional time table also states that elections to the National Assembly could hold either on January 8 or April 9; while the governorship/state assembly elections are slated for January 15 or April 16.
While saying that for all elections in 2011, the votes will be counted at the end of the polls in every polling centre, Iwu said the commission is by this rule committed to eliminating the possibility of “those miracles” that had been known to happen in the past between polling centers and collation points.
