Except the Electoral Act is assented to based on the amendment effected by the National Assembly, the 2019 election will be held as ordered by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.
The National Chairman of INEC, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, made this declaration on Monday.
He spoke in Abuja during the quarterly consultative meeting with the media.
It would be recalled that INEC had, in its timetable for the 2019 election, scheduled the Presidential and National Assembly elections to hold on the same day while the Governorship and State House of Assembly election will hold the next day.
But the National Assembly moved against the order and changed the sequence.
The legislators amended the Electoral Act to the effect that the National Assembly election would hold first while the presidential election would come last.
But speaking on the issue, Yakubu said the amendment could only have effect if assented to.
His words: “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 assented 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. Right now, the draft is on my table based on the current schedule of activities. Thereafter, we will submit it to the approving authorities.”
