The Judicial Council, an arm of the Students Union of Yaba College of Technology made history in the education sector when it organized a seminar on Electoral Reforms in Nigeria as part of its contribution to the ongoing electoral reforms process by the present administration.

The one-day seminar attracted stakeholders such as Barrister S.O. Ibrahim, legal adviser to INEC headquarters, Lagos, university don, Barrister Abdul Wahab Shittu, Dr. Reuben Abati, chairman, Editorial Board of The Guardian, Mrs. Remi Adiukwu Bakare, former commissioner in Lagos State, Alhaji Ahmadu Sheidu, a former Assistant Inspector General of Police, students and the management of YABATECH, who commended the initiative of the judicial council.

Speaking at the event, Barrister Shittu said elections in Nigeria till date were characterized by violence, malpractice in the form of massive rigging by self-anointed people while insisting that free, fair and credible elections were fundamental to democracy.

Shittu, who spoke on "Legal framework for free and fair elections in Nigeria," stressed that to achieve a free and fair election in the country, certain mechanism that would clog the wheel towards the independence of INEC should be removed even as he advocated an amendment of sections 153(1)(f) and 156 which dwells on the membership of the commission.

Among his recommendations for the ongoing reforms are that members of INEC be drawn from all the political parties, be autonomous, provision of adequate security during elections, independent monitoring of elections, fast and fair judicial resolution of electoral disputes, voters’ registers.

He commended President Musa Yar’Adua for constituting an electoral reform panel and urged the members to ensure that the personnel who would head the national electoral body and the commissioners are appointed in a manner, which would confer on them the garb of independence.
For the former AIG, Alhaji Seidu, election is the pillar on which democracy rests and that if the pillar wobbles, the structure on it would collapse while noting that any deficits in the electoral process would provoke great concern locally and internationally.

Alhaji Seidu, who spoke on the "Role of Nigeria police in curbing electoral fraud," supported the school of thought that stressed the need for the police addition to its power under the police Act 4, be given specific power by the electoral Act and the elimination of the use of other members of the armed forces during elections.

According to him, a copy of the result from the collation centres should be left with the police and would aid in deterring forgery of figures that characterized the final results of the 2007 elections handled exclusively by INEC.

The INEC legal adviser, Barrister S.O Ibrahim, who was represented by Barrister (Mrs.) Stella Dike, told the gathering that the success of any election depended on the electoral act and urged the electoral reform panel to recommend the independent of INEC with proper funding to avoid what happened in the April 2007 polls.

Other areas, which she wanted the panel to look into, include the issues of electoral violence, campaign funding, power of incumbency, certificate forgery and political education of the electorates.
The chairman of The Guardian Editorial Board, Dr. Abati told the gathering that the objective of the electoral reform is to return democracy to Nigerian people and explained why the process in the country was urgent because Nigeria as a member of the international comity cannot isolate itself from electoral issues and democracy.

Speaking on "The importance of the media in electoral reforms," Abati added: "We cannot leave the issue of electoral reforms to government alone, the civil society must be involved. The media as a member of the civil society should play a leading role in the ongoing electoral reforms".
Abati said one area which the media can play a role is to carry out civil campaign on problems of the electoral reforms and acknowledged that the Fourth Estate of the Realm is doing a good job in exposing electoral fraud committed by politicians.

"The panel does not need one year, the issues are there and are known", according to him, the major issue is the appointment of INEC chairman and the commissioners, funding of INEC, disqualification of candidates, timing of elections, independent candidates, resolution of disputes arising from elections and mode of voting.

Other recommendations by Dr. Abati are provision of adequate security, admitting that the police was part of the electoral problems. He urged the National Broadcasting Commission to ensure that politicians have free access to electronic media and stressed that the media have a role to expose electoral fraud.
The Rector of YABATECH, Mr. Olubunmi Owoso, who was represented by Chief M.A. Bello, commended the Students Union for organizing the knowledge-based seminar, which he said, would go a long way to make the academicians understand the legal frame work of the ongoing electoral reforms.