By Chimezie Godfrey
A Civil Society Organization, the Electoral Hub, has called on the National Assembly to ensure the integrity of the electoral process at large and INEC as an independent electoral umpire.
The Founder/ Executive Director, Princess Hamman-Obels in a statement noted that the passage of the 2021 Electoral Bill presents a historic moment to create electoral reform legacies by the Ninth National Assembly.
According to her, it is a moment to be counted as a people-centred legislative, legislature and legislation. Following much delay and re-drafting, the Electoral Act Amendment Bill 2021 has been passed by both Chambers of the National Assembly, with a slightly different version in each Chamber.
She recalled that the Electoral Hub, an organ of the Initiative for Research, Innovation and Advocacy in Development (IRIAD), had earlier expressed concern over the earlier version prohibiting electronic transmission of results in the Bill.
Hamman-Obels who noted that the prohibition has now been removed, stressed that they are still concerned about the power given to the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) over the electronic transmission of results.
According to her, this power is contained in Section 52(3) in the version of the Bill passed by the Senate as: “The Commission may consider electronic transmission of results provided that the National Network Coverage is adjudged to be adequate and secured by the Nigerian Communications Commission and approved by the National Assembly”.
She also pointed out that in the House of Representatives, Section 52(2) of the Bill gives the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) the discretion to adopt electronic voting or any other method of voting it deems fit.
She however, noted that the Section is silent on the issue of electronic transmission of results. Therefore, the Electoral Act Amendment Bill 2021, particularly the version passed by the Senate, means that the operationalisation of electronic transmission of results is now only to be determined by the National Assembly and the NCC.
Hamman-Obels therefore stressed that this provision is not only dysfunctional but also unconstitutional, as it goes against Section 78 of the Constitution which states that “the conduct of elections shall be subject to the direction and supervision of Independent National Electoral Commission”.
She called for the integrity of the electoral and empowerment of INEC, among other critical demands.
She said,”Indeed, passing such a contentious Bill with unresolved issues is undemocratic and does not reflect the principles of discussion, dialogue and inclusion that should underlie a democracy.
“Further fuelling these issues is the recent sole confirmation by the Senate President, Dr Ahmed Lawan, of a person of questionable character without the consensus of other members of the Senate. Such undemocratic actions, especially since they concern the electoral umpire INEC, are a huge threat to our democracy and elections.
“Therefore, going forward, we demand for these SEVEN KEY ACTIONS from both Chambers of the National Assembly to ensure the integrity of the electoral process at large and INEC as an independent electoral umpire:NASS, through a harmonisation process to merge the two Bills, should give INEC the unfettered discretion to determine the mode of conducting elections, including voting and transmission of results, as provided for in the Constitution.
“The Senate should remove the NCC’s power in Section 52(3) to determine whether or not INEC should transmit results electronically.NASS should ensure transparency in the law-making process.
“This implies that following each review, an updated copy of the Bill should be made accessible to the public for engagement.Any attempt at electoral reform in NASS must clearly reflect the views and opinions of key electoral stakeholders including INEC and the general public.
“NASS should ensure that electoral reform is done in a timely manner with strict deadlines that must be met.”
The Executive Director, urged the Senate to ensure that appointments into INEC reflect the principles of integrity, neutrality, impartiality, and non-partisanship.
“This implies that obvious card-carrying members of any party or people with integrity issues should automatically be disqualified.
“Subsequently, NASS should legislate to provide for appointments into INEC by an independent body, rather than the President.
“We also urge citizens to spur their legislators into action by amplifying these seven demands,” she stated.
