Polls Postponement: The PDP after due consideration of the provision of the Electoral Act, is set to reopen its open campaigns consequent upon the postponement of Presidential and Senate elections by INEC from the earlier scheduled date of Feb. 23, 2019.
The PDP rejects the
wrongful administrative prohibition of open campaigns by INEC, holding
that such administrative pronouncement was erroneous, directly in
conflict with the provision of the Electoral Act and is not backed by
any other law in our country.
Our position is predicated on the
clear provision of section 99 (1) of the Electoral Act which stipulated
that “for the purposes of this Act, the period of campaigning in public
by every political party shall commence 90 days before polling day and
end 24 hours prior to that day”
The clear import of this
provision, in the current situation, is that given the postponement of
the election to February 23, 2019, the 24 hours requirement for closure
of all public campaigning falls at midnight of February 21, 2019.
The
PDP reminds INEC that whenever its administrative pronouncement
conflicts with the Electoral Act, such administrative pronouncement must
bow before the law. The party charges INEC to be appropriately guided
while directing its members to await further directives.
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