Moses Ofodeme
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has sort broader interaction with legislative arm of the Government which it says provides opportunities to seamlessly integrate policies and procedures that provide for efficient management of electoral processes.
Speaking at a Retreat of the Joint Committee of the National Assembly on Electoral Matters in Lagos on Monday, April 28, Chairman of the Commission Mahmood Yakubu, recalled that five years ago, a similar retreat was organized in Lagos precisely in March 2020 involving INEC and the two Committees of the National Assembly (NASS) on Electoral Matters.
That effort, among many other initiatives, resulted in the repeal and re-enactment of the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended) and the result is the current Electoral Act 2022.
Yakubu further recalled that at that retreat, and for the first time in the nation’s effort to reform its electoral laws, the lawmakers, the election management body and critical stakeholders involved in the electoral process as observers and advocates for electoral reform, discussed various aspects of the nation’s electoral laws, many of which had to be reviewed to provide legal backing to some of the innovations introduced by INEC itself, especially in the area of technology; make our electoral laws compliant with judicial pronouncements arising from pre-election and post-election litigations; remove ambiguities and provide clarity in some areas arising from the reports of national and international election observers; introduce good practices learnt from other relevant jurisdictions during study tours and election observation missions; and to implement some of the recommendations from the high profile electoral reform committees, such as the Justice Mohammed Uwais Committee (2009), the Sheikh Ahmed Lemu Committee (2011) and the Senator Ken Nnamani Committee (2017).
He said, “For us in INEC, the coming together of lawmakers, who also have field experience as practising politicians, and the Commission as the election management body saddled with the constitutional responsibility of organizing, undertaking and supervising all elections in Nigeria (except the local government elections) is a positive development for electoral reform in Nigeria. “We believe that a retreat such as this one provides a focused engagement and a better insight into the challenges of election management beyond what can be achieved in a few hours of public hearing in a Committee Room at the National Assembly.”
Drawing experience from the last retreat, he noted that a perennial problem in the conduct of elections in Nigeria has been the postponement of the dates fixed for General Elections on two occasions since 2011 as a result of logistics challenges associated with the production and delivery of sensitive materials (ballot papers and result sheets).
However, he said the Commission was determined to change the embarrassing narrative and that after a thorough review, the Commission came to the conclusion that the problem was not one of technical capacity.
According to him , Nigerian printers have the capacity to meet our needs but the real challenge was time management.
“Under the 2010 Electoral Act (as amended), the Commission had just 60 days between the conclusion of party primaries and the conduct of the General Election election to know which political party was fielding candidates in each of the 1,491 seats made up of 1 presidential constituency, 28 governorship, 109 senatorial, 360 federal and 993 state constituencies. We need the information for customization of the ballot papers and results sheets. Moreover, the Voters’ Register, which is the basis for planning the procurement of sensitive materials, has been increasing with every election by an average of 10 million new voters from 2011 to the last election in 2023.
“The solution was to amend the Electoral Act to provide for more time between party primaries and the nomination of candidates on the one hand and the dates fixed for the election on the other.
“The Commission initially asked for one year, which was not favourably considered by the lawmakers who eventually settled for the current 180 days (that is six months).”
“As a result of that decision, the Commission had ample time to plan and consequently, for the first time in three electoral cycles, the 2023 General Election was not postponed on account of logistics associated with the printing and delivery of sensitive materials.”
Equally significant, he continued, is that for the first time since the restoration of democracy in 1999, not a single sheet of paper for the 2023 General Election was printed outside Nigeria.
Everything was done within the country for which the Commission was commended by the Chartered Institute of Professional Printers of Nigeria (CIPPON).
Yakubu, told the law makers “As we embark on yet another review of our electoral laws, we will share with the lawmakers our field experience and draw attention to some of the proposed reforms and their implications for the management of elections. This is what makes the retreat of this nature a unique opportunity to improve our electoral process, the foundation of which is rooted in the legal framework.”
He used the occasion to appreciated their contributions, support and partnership in promoting democracy in the country, while also appealing to them to expedite action to conclude the electoral legal framework speedily so that the Commission will have enough time for implementation.