TMG Asks INEC To Use 1999 Constitution for 2011 Polls

WORRIED by the uncertainties generated by the ongoing attempts to amend the 1999 Constitution and the danger these portend for the 2011 general elections, the Transition Monitoring Group (TMG) yesterday urged the nation to stick with the Constitution in its unchanged form for the conduct of the polls.
Addressing a media conference in Abuja after its meeting, the coalition of civil societies said its position was informed by the uncertainties created by the recent pronouncement by the Federal High Court, Lagos on the amended Constitution and called for urgent action to save the nation’s democracy.
Chairman, TMG, Mashood Erubami regretted that with less than six months to the general elections, a fresh compilation of the voters’ register had not been done, “even as the legal framework for the election remains uncertain.”
Erubami argued that the much-expected electoral reforms had not been concluded, stressing that “we have moved from reform to killing reform. The signals are ominous. The TMG, therefore, calls for urgent action to address the problems without further delay.”
According to the organisation, the recent declaration by the Federal High Court that the amendment of the 1999 Constitution remained inchoate without presidential assent meant that the amended Constitution could not be the basis for the conduct of the 2011 elections, “unless there is a contrary pronouncement by a court of superior jurisdiction.”
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