The Senate yesterday removed the controversy surrounding who succeeds a governorship or presidential candidate who dies before the announcement of the result of an election.
The new bill provides for the conduct of a fresh primary within 14 days to choose a new candidate.The bill, which is the sixth amendment to the 2010 Electoral Act, also provides that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) shall suspend the conduct of a new election for 21 days when the death of a candidate is recorded after the commencement of an election and before the announcement of result.
This is coming a year after the sudden death of the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Abubakar Audu, at the November 21, 2015 governorship election in Kogi State before the announcement of the election result.