The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has insisted that the presidential and National Assembly elections will hold on the same day while the governorship and state legislative elections will come next.
Recall that the National Assembly had opposed the sequence of the election and amended the Electoral Act such that the National Assembly election would hold first while the presidential election would come last.
However, at a quarterly consultative meeting with the media in Abuja on Monday, Chairman of INEC, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, said the commission would continue to prepare for elections based on its own schedule since it could not make plans based on speculation.
Yakubu said, “There are many ‘ifs’ but here, we deal with certainty. As far as the commission is concerned, there is no legal lacuna at the moment. What we have done is on the basis of the existing law and nothing has changed.
“If the bill is accented to, we will look at the provisions and inform Nigerians on the next step. But as far as the commission is concerned at the moment, we are operating under the existing law and we have issued a timetable for the activities accordingly.
“If something happens tomorrow, we will examine it and proceed accordingly.”
The INEC boss said the budget for the 2019 elections had been drafted based on its own sequence and timetable.
He said the proposal would soon be transmitted to the National Assembly for approval.“Right now, the draft is on my table based on the current schedule of activities. Thereafter, we will submit it to the approving authorities,” Yakubu said.
