Why lawmakers would not stop off-cycle election – Ondo senator explains

The National Assembly will not halt off-cycle elections, despite recommendations to do so made in response to the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) dismal performance at the recently completed polls in Kogi, Bayelsa, and Imo, according to Senator Adeniyi Adegbomire of Ondo Central.

Adegbomire, a senatorial candidate for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), defended the off-cycle elections by claiming that they improved Nigeria’s democracy.

The senator claimed that Nigerians’ votes mattered because of the off-cycle elections.

He continued by saying that if leaders are chosen by means other than respecting the desire of the people, society will descend into perdition.

Adegbomire emphasized that off-year elections in Nigeria are a positive development for democracy and that the National Assembly will not enact legislation to stop them.

The Supreme Court has made it clear that this is a constitutional issue. You will take a four-year oath of office, according to the constitution. “Those four years begin on the day that you take office as president or governor,” he stated.

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The Constitution makes no mention of the requirement for two-thirds of local governments’ majority votes, as stated in the Electoral Act. As a result, there are requirements for both tenure and election victory. It is stated in the constitution. It implies that the individual who held the position before to his removal was not legitimately elected and was not, in fact, a governor. To avoid any ambiguity, he stated, “the constitution and the Electoral Act recognize that even if he is removed at the tribunal, he will continue to be governor until the final decision.”
According to reports, the senator made his statement shortly after former Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan voiced concerns about the way off-cycle elections were being conducted.

If the country continued to conduct off-season polls, he expressed concern that the presidential race might someday become an off-cycle election.