CSO wants presidential, NASS elections separately held

A Civil Society Organisation (CSO), OrderPaper Advocacy Initiative has advocated that the Presidential and the National Assembly elections should be held on separate dates to avoid bandwagon effects as observed in the 2023 general elections.

Executive Director, OrderPaper Advocacy Initiative, Oke Epia, made the call yesterday in Abuja while presenting the outcome of its 2023 VOTER project, which is supported by USAID under the Strengthening Civic Advocacy and Local Engagement (SCALE) by Palladium.

He said the key output of the election observation exercise by OrderPaper was the validation of the bandwagon effect in voting when elections for executive and legislative positions are conducted on the same day.

“In other words, the practice of holding elections for legislative and executive positions is most likely to result in choosing lawmakers along the lines of a bandwagon trend instead of adequate knowledge of the capacity, competence and character of those seeking to be legislators.

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“This is as a result of the predominant attention that the presidential candidates, their political parties and the process itself generate from the media, local and international observers, as well as other stakeholders”, he said.

OrderPaper, therefore, recommended that the National Assembly revisit the order and sequence of elections in a way that executive and legislative polls hold on separate dates.

“This can be done by amending the electoral law. The election management body should deploy its administrative leverage to address scheduling to hold elections on separate days for executive and legislative elections”, he said.

He urged the National Orientation Agency (NOA) to sensitise voters on the importance and roles of the legislature in a democracy to guide them in making informed decisions during elections.