Fred Itua, Abuja

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) last Monday handed a tall order to the Senate. They want the lawmakers to come up with a new Electoral Act that will improve subsequent elections. INEC chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, had in March made similar demand on the legislators the day he gave Certificate of Return to them at the International Conference Centre (ICC).

 “There is a lot of work; but very little time available. As a process govern by law, the success of election in Nigeria depends to a large extent on the electoral legal framework and most importantly in ensuring adherence to the law.

“I want to assure you that we will continue to work with the National Assembly to review and strengthen our electoral law. But, I want to appeal to the senators-elect to please start work early and conclude work on electoral framework in a good time well ahead of the 2023 general election,’’ the INEC boss said.

Weeks after Yakubu’s call, CSOs led by Centre for Transparency Advocacy (CTA) on Monday espoused the significance of new Electoral Act being in place as soon as possible.

Speaking at the formal presentation of the 2019 General Election Report, acting Executive Director of CTA, Ms Faith Nwadishi urged stakeholders to join forces with the National Assembly to turn in new electoral laws that would further help INEC to conduct a free, fair and transparent poll.

“We believe the attempt to rebuild electoral credibility must start with the law. The incoming National Assembly must work in collaboration with INEC, civil society organisations and other stakeholders to firm up our electoral laws. We are prepared to make our technical contributions in this regard. Indeed, there is the need to give INEC more powers to reflect the presumed independence of the body. It must as much as possible be put fully in charge of the resources and personnel it needs for elections, “she said.

Her position was in tandem with the stand of the INEC National Electoral Commissioner and chairman of INEC’s committee on Information and Voter education, Festus Okoye, who at a different event called for the retouching of the electoral law to strengthen the activities of the commission.

  “Following the comprehensive review of the elections, the commission will work with the National Assembly and propose alteration to the constitutional and legal framework on critical areas that posed challenges to the conduct of the 2019 elections, “he said.

It was not only the amendment of the Electoral Act that CTA , INEC and other CSOs were concerned about, they also kicked against the seeming inaction by the authorities against those involved in electoral malfeasance during the 2019 poll.

Nwadishi said the situation was sending a wrong signal to the public, adding that the ultimate test of credibility is how the government handles criminal acts.

“If people do not see electoral offenders prosecuted and punished, the message would be clear that these persons work for those we have elected and who tomorrow will come seeking our votes again. If the government and the political class continue to act nonchalant, the people will lose confidence in politics and democracy and anarchy and self-help would be the outcomes. That would spell the end of Nigeria as we know it. It’s therefore the duty of the government, INEC and every patriotic citizen to ensure that is not our fate. We have to work for a better electoral system now by ensuring that the law is upheld and offenders are appropriately punished,” she added.  Her stand appears to resonate with INEC’s Resident Electoral Commissioner in charge of Akwa Ibom State, Mike Igini.

He contended that the key problem facing the country’s democracy was the elite who he said were benefiting from the current situation.

 “Political elite is the greatest threat to our democracy. They are working to consolidate on their wrongdoings. The problem we have is absence of consequence for offenders. A situation a wrong is allowed, it could be repeated tomorrow. That is the challenge we have on our hands”, Igini said.

On his part, Chairman of Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC), Peter Ameh as well as a rights activist, Ezenwa Nwangwu agreed wholly with Nwadishi and Igini. They said the inability to track and bring to book election offenders has emboldened others to perpetrate more damning crimes during elections.

“We need to ask ourselves why it has been impossible to bring those who commit electoral crimes to book. If we had allowed the law to take its course on the offenders, more people would not have been killing and maiming innocent Nigerians in their desperation to win election. There should be political will to do the right thing no matter who is involved “, Ameh said.

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For Nwangwu , the major problem facing conduct of elections in Nigeria is the predilection of many to engage in mischief . He argued that even people who should help in ensuring that laws are observed wilfully divert attention with criticism of INEC.

Analysing diverse factors that shaped the outcome of the poll, Nwadishi who was of the opinion that it was incorrect and unfair to blame INEC alone for all the shortcomings of last elections, contended that there was nothing the electoral body could have done about security agencies.

“While we generally commend members of the security services for helping with maintaining law and order during the election, we cannot overlook the fact that the deployment of the military was unlawful and uncalled for. Our laws do not give soldiers any role to play in our election and our courts up to the highest level have ruled accordingly. Their deployment and brazen partisanship against the opposition was an affront on decency. Of course, we realise that they could only have acted on the orders of their political and civil superiors, but no soldier or commander of military forces is compelled to obey unlawful order. The way and manner the Nigeria Armed Forces handled itself in the general election has not brought it respect and glory at all. Making themselves unlawful instruments of agenda-driven politicians has not brought honour to the uniform,” Nwadishi, the CTA boss said.

She stressed the need to invest in technology to help bridge the gap left by poor deployment of technology.

But Igini had a different view on the deployment of the military. He believed that the presence of military saved the day in Akwa Ibom.

“When people criticise the military, we in Akwa Ibom have a different position. I commend the military for being firm and unbiased, “ Igini said.  His comment split the audience. While some clapped, others grumbled.

Focusing on the activities of INEC, CTA boss called on the body to open its arms to technology. “We must also invest in technology,” she added, noting that “it is an embarrassment seeing the amount of paper we carry all over the place during elections. There are ways people can vote credibly from wherever they are and the vote will count. We do not need the massive national logistical and personnel mobilisation we engage in during elections. There are climes where elections are conducted while people go about their daily businesses without disruption. Technology makes that possible and we must not be left behind.”

The leadership of INEC agreed with the proposal put forward by CTA. In addition to that, Okoye explained that the body was incisive examination to a number of problems that militated against its operations during the last poll.

He said the commission believed there should be a “review of the opaque nature of the conduct of party primaries and making proposals towards reforms as the crisis and challenges arising from the conduct of party primaries remains a sore point in the electoral process. “

Apart from that he said the commission was also proposing that there should be “timeline for the disposal of pre-election matters. The present timeline proposed for the disposal of pre-election matters has not solved the problem of certainty in the electoral process. The 180 days given to the courts of first instance to dispose pre-election suits and the 60 days earmarked for appeals dovetails into the conduct of elections and keeps the commission on edge till the day of election. It makes it difficult for the commission to procure sensitive materials ahead of time. The commission will prefer a time-frame and a timeline that allows for the disposal of all pre-election matters before elections. This sill entails further alteration to section 285 of the Constitution. “

Okoye further disclose that the commission would also propose a review of the conditions for the registration of political parties to determine whether it is adequate to guarantee the registration of political parties that “can in truth and in fact, bid for political power. It is also important to decide whether it is important to define a thresh hold which political parties can get on the ballot. More fundamentally, the constitution and legal conditions for the registration of political parties appears confusing and inadequate to weed out parties that enjoy only legal and not factual existence.

“The commission will also propose amendment to section 35 of the Electoral Act 2010 as amended, relating to the withdrawal of nominated candidates and their replacement not later than 45 days to the day of the election. The time-frame is inadequate and does not give the commission enough time to procure sensitive materials required for the conduct of elections. A time-frame of at least 60 days before the conduct of the election will be adequate for preparations and for withdrawals”.

Speakers after speakers at the event which drew together audience from the diplomatic community, academia, political parties and media, submitted that it was wrong to heap the blame of all that went wrong during the 2019 elections on INEC instead of political actors.

Nwadishi said “people are entitled to their frustration when political leaders behave horribly as our Nigerian political leaders have done. We urge Nigerians to persevere with the democratic system because it is our only way out of the woods. However, to get the best of it, we must do our duty of courageously holding our leaders accountable at every level. We also salute our citizens who are Persons With Disability (PWD) for coming out in record number during the elections. Obviously, this must have been influenced by the conditions created by INEC to make their voting experience more comfortable, so we also thank INEC for that. But, in all, we are happy that Nigerian citizens are getting more informed and are prepared to stick with the democratic process as we continue to work collectively to get it right.”

Nwangwu on his part submitted that “those who know what transpired know that the problem was not INEC, it had to do with our refusal to do the right thing”.