A federal lawmaker in Nigeria’s House of Representatives Razak Atunwa from Kwara state has thrown his weight behind the recent Electoral Act amendment by the National Assembly where it re-ordered the 2019 election time table, saying there was nothing ‘unconstitutional’ about it.

 

Hon. Atunwa while fielding questions from journalists in Ilorin the Kwara state capital over the weekend said having an order for the general election is well within the powers and the purview of the National Assembly.

 

”There is nothing unconstitutional about amending Electoral Act, the Electoral Act itself was a creation of the National Assembly. The Electoral Act talks about more than seven orders within which to carry out certain activities for INEC.

“Having an order for the general election is not unconstitutional; it is nothing new. It is well within the powers and the purview of the National Assembly, and we have done that. That is what we have. I don’t see why anyone should be crying foul over it. Nothing unconstitutional about it.

 

“When you practice democracy, you learn from it. What we have learnt is that we need to separate the mandate of the people, so lumping together mandate of the people, as we have seen, hasn’t generated much accountability as possible.

 

“So, let the National Assembly have its mandate, let the State Assembly and the Governors have their mandate, let the President have his mandate. So, let’s know what the colour of the House of Representatives will be, let’s see what the colour of the Senate will be, let’s see what the colour of the Presidency, the governorship and the State House of Assembly will be,” he said.

 

Photo Credit: Nigerian Biography