N/Assembly will appeal election sequence judgement - Lawyer
The National Assembly will appeal the judgement of a Federal High Court nullifying alteration of the sequence of elections ahead of the 2019 general elections as the judgment interfered in its internal affairs.
Counsel representing NASS in the suit, Sebastine Hon (SAN) told Daily Trust yesterday that “The judgement amounts to interference with the internal affairs and workings of the National Assembly and we are not satisfied with the reasons given by the judge. There are also some other technical issues we would be raising in the appeal.”
He said the Bill that was stepped down by NASS was the new one that was introduced. “They introduced this new one when the matter was pending in court. So it has nothing to do with what was pending before the court (Clause 25),” he said.
Also speaking in a phone interview with Daily Trust yesterday, constitutional lawyer, Mike Ozekhome (SAN) said the lower court was wrong in its decision. “The judgment is appealable because the Electoral Act exists and it is meant to guide the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in the conduct of elections. The Constitution however is an organic law that provides only the skeleton or framework for actions of government. It does not provide details unlike the Electoral Act,” he said.
He said the Constitution merely states that INEC can organize and fix dates for elections but did not discuss the issue of sequence of dates, adding that, “Since the Electoral Act is already in existence which provided for the sequence for election by bringing the presidential election first, the question would now be, ‘can the NASS amend that part of the Act?’ The answer is yes because the NASS have the powers under Section 4 of the Constitution to promulgate and amend all laws.”
INEC had in its released timetable fixed Presidential and National Assembly elections for Saturday, Feb. 16, 2019, and Governorship and State Assembly elections for Saturday, March 2, 2019. However, the National Assembly in the amendment changed the sequence, demanding that the National Assembly elections come first and the presidential poll last.
Subsequently, the Accord Party through its counsel, Wole Olanipekun (SAN) filed a suit against the National Assembly, challenging the alteration of the election sequence as already announced by the INEC.
Delivering judgement in the suit, the trial judge, Justice Ahmed Mohammed held that the National Assembly did not have the powers to reorder the election sequence.