Deji Elumoye in Abuja
President of the Senate, Dr. Ahmad Lawan, has stated that the National Assembly will work with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in its bid to properly delineate electoral constituencies across the country ahead of the 2023 general election.
Lawan gave the assurance yesterday while playing host to a delegation from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) led by its Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu.
The last exercise which witnessed the creation of electoral districts and constituencies across the country was carried out in 1996.
The Senate President, in his remarks during the visit, said the delineation of electoral constituencies in the country would enhance democracy as well as provide equitable and fair representation in Nigeria’s governance structure.
He explained further that having more districts and constituencies would present a level playing field for all Nigerians to elect leaders of their choice at the polls.
While underscoring the need for the federal government to find a way around getting accurate information about the country’s population size, he stressed that such information is significant and critical for the creation of more constituencies in disadvantaged areas.
He said: “I want to assure you and Nigerians, that we will go all the way with you, to finding solutions on getting the delineation of electoral constituencies done before the end of our tenure.
“It is not going to be easy by no means, but we sit here as parliamentarians to deal with the issues of developing Nigeria and, of course, elections determine a lot of things in this country and, indeed, in any country.
The Senate President stated that the exercise for the creation of electoral constituencies had become imperative, particularly against the backdrop of resolving conflicts arising from court verdicts and the provisions of
the 1999 constitution as amended.
He queried, “are we going to respect what the constitution provides for, or discount constitutional provision and respect what the courts would ask INEC to do?
“We have to settle that, even for the sake of protecting you and going extremely legal, so that we don’t create difficulties going forward.
Speaking earlier, Yakubu said the delineation of constituencies requires an Act of the National Assembly, adding that, “the major consideration for revision of the country into constituencies is the population quota.”
“The National Assembly has powers under the constitution to actually request INEC to delineate constituencies by an Act of the Assembly.
“No Act of the National Assembly has asked INEC to delineate constituencies since the last delineation in 1996”, the INEC boss said.
