By Godwin Ojoshimite
The Nasarawa State Independent Electoral Commission, NASIEC, has said that those elected in the forthcoming council polls would spend two years in office.
The position of the state electoral body is contrary to the bill passed by the Nasarawa State House of Assembly to allow elected local government council officials spend one year in office.
Speaking at a stakeholders meeting organized by the commission in Lafia on Friday,the chairman of the commission, Abdullahi Moddibo, said the electoral body would work with the existing law of two years, stressing that the bill passed by the State Assembly has not been accented to by Governor Umaru Tanko Al-makura.
“The commission will work with the stipulated law guiding it. The election we are conducting is for two years and not one year. The resolution passed by the Nasarawa State House of Assembly is still a Bill because the governor has not accented to it,” he said.
The chairman also seized the opportunity to inform the electorate of a change in the time-table it released on Wednesday December 18.
“We want to apologize for changing the date of the election from March 14, 2014 to March 22, 2014. This is because the electoral law stipulates that elections can only hold 90 days after it is announced,” he added.
All other aspects of the time table remains valid”, he said. He also reiterated the commission’s resolve to conduct a free, fair and credible election for the people of the state.
Also speaking at the meeting, Tony Enoh who presented a paper titled “ Conducting free, fair and credible Local Government Council election in Nasarawa state “ attributed the failure in the country’s electoral system to corruption.
He also outlined poverty to the country’s failed electoral system, adding that the rate of poverty in the country makes electorates to sell their voter’s card in exchange for money.
Lack of proper sanctions to electoral offenders according to Enoh, is also a reason for the country’s failed electoral system.
He, however, enjoined stakeholders to support NASIEC to deliver a hitch
free local government council election in the state.