•INEC chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu
Early voting, casting of ballot by Nigerians in the Diaspora and allocation of special seats for unrepresented persons are part of proposals in the amendments being sought to the 1999 Constitution and the 2022 Electoral Act.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is seeking the amendments to ensure a comprehensive electoral legal framework ahead of the 2027 general election, reports The Nation.
The Commission is seeking the amendments to allow for early voting for persons on special duties and inmates, special seats for women and persons with disabilities and special funding for the Commission, among others.
The proposals are contained in a presentation by the Special Adviser to the INEC Chairman, Prof. Mohammad Kuna, titled: “Issues and contentions in the electoral legal framework: An overview from INEC submission,” at a retreat organised in Lagos by the umpire for the joint Committee of the National Assembly on Electoral Matters.
Kuna said: “The 2023 general election was the seventh since Nigeria’s return to civil rule in 1999. In addition to the general election, the Independent National Electoral Commission has conducted many off-cycle, bye-and re-run elections.
“The Commission’s field experiences in the conduct of these elections and management of the electoral process, recommendations of both domestic and foreign election observers, judicial pronouncements, as well as the activities of stakeholders in the political and electoral processes have become important triggers for the reform of the electoral legal framework.
“The current effort at the reform of the Electoral Legal Framework comes in the wake of observations from across a broad spectrum of stakeholders in the political and electoral processes on relevant aspects of the constitution and the Electoral Act 2022.
“With up to 80 new provisions, the Electoral Act 2022 has created a broader and better enabling legal framework for the conduct of elections that is supportive of security, transparency, accountability; funding of the commission, increased regulation and monitoring of political parties; infusion of technology in results management; as well as provisions on local council elections, amongst many others, all of which have dramatically improved the credibility of the electoral process.
“Nevertheless, since the enactment of EA 2022, and particularly since the conduct of the 2023 general election, a few issues and contentions had arisen that require legislative attention. Some of these issues and contentions require only the amendment of the Electoral Act 2022; a few however, require constitutional amendment.
“This presentation briefly gives an overview of the key issues raised by the Independent National Electoral Commission for possible amendment.
“It is a brief overview because the bulk of the work has already been done by a Joint Technical Committee of the National Assembly and INEC including proposed amendments.”
The presentation touches on four issues in the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and briefly reviews 11 issues in the Electoral Act that requires urgent attention.
It recommended the amendment of sections 77 (2), 117 (1), 132, (5) & 178 (5) of the 1999 Constitution to provide for early, special, out-of-country, diaspora and inmates voting and eligibility to be registered as voter.
The amendment, according to the commission, will provide the Electoral Legal Framework to introduce early/special voting to cater for eligible voters on essential services, election personnel as well as voters under incarceration, those in the Diaspora and out-of-country voting for eligible voting Nigerians outside the country during elections.
It also recommended an amendment to Section14 (3), Paragraph F of the Third Schedule to the 1999 Constitution to confer the power of appointing and disciplining Heads of State and FCT Offices on the commission in view of the development in Adamawa State during the governorship election.
The commission also proposed the amendment to Sections 153 (1), 154 (3), 156 (1, a), 157 (2), 158 (1), and 160 (1) and the third schedule, paragraph 15 (b – d) of the 1999 Constitution to create the Electoral Offences Commission and Political Party Regulatory Agency.
The commission also sought amendment to Sections 48, 49, 71 & 91 of the 1999 Constitution by providing new provisions for special seats for women and PwDs.
While allowing the commission to continue to work with all political parties for greater participation of under-represented groups in elective positions, the surest way to achieve that objective is through affirmative action.
It said this should be backed by a clear provision of the law that may, for instance, create designated constituencies for such groups, especially women and persons with disability.
On the Electoral Act, INEC is proposing amendments to different sections of the law for an effective electoral system and to remove ambiguities/cross-referencing errors.
It said Section 60 (5) refers to ‘transfer’ of results while 64 (4 & 5) is about ‘direct transmission’; (b) Section 64 (4a & 5) refers to 47 (2) with regards the transmission of results; yet 47 (2) makes no reference to the transmission of results; (c ) there are similar ambiguities identified inSections 29 (1), 75 (3) & (4), 77(3), 131 (5) & (6) and 132 (5-10) of the Electoral Act, 2022 detailed in the submission of the Commission.
The agency is also asking for an amendment to Section 65 (1) to provide clarity on the Commission’s powers to review election results by creating a caveat in Section 65 (1) to provide that the triggers to the review of results should be instances of declarations made under duress.
Stable funding regime
Substituting in Section 3 (3) the words ‘election funds….for any general election ‘are to be released’ with shall be released’
It wants Section 3(3) amended to provide a more stable funding for the commission, while Sections 12 and 45 should also be amended provide for early/special and related forms of voting by making provisions to enable the introduction of early/ special voting to cater for eligible voters on essential services, election personnel as well as voters under incarceration, those in the Diaspora and out-of-country voting for eligible voting Nigerians outside the country during elections by introducing a new sub-Section 12 (2) as well as the amendment of Section 45.
The electoral body seeks an amendment to the electoral legal framework to establish (a) an Electoral Offences Commission and (b) a Political Party Regulatory Agency, by amending Sections 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80,81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 89, 90(4), 144 and 145 of Electoral Act 2022.
It said: “These provisions border on the powers of the Commission to register/de[1]register, monitor and regulate political parties be now transferred to the Political Party Regulatory Agency.”
INEC also wants the Electoral Act, when amended, to grant the commission the power to heads of state and FCT offices of the Commission, saying “developments in recent past and especially during and in the aftermath of the 2023 general election suggests the need for the commission to have greater powers to make appointments to the heads of state and FCT offices.”
Also, the commission is proposing an amendment to Section 19 (2) of Electoral Act 2022 to extend the period for the display of preliminary register of voters and processing time, saying the amendment will provide sufficient time for the Commission to incorporate changes resulting from the display of the preliminary register of voters for claims and objections in accordance with section 19 (2) of EA 2022 from 14 to 21 days.
It seeks clearly-defined period for the withdrawal and substitution of candidates so that no party can substitute its candidate two weeks after the publication of the final list of candidates except in the event of death as provided in Sections 33 and 34 of the Electoral Act 2022.
Another amendment being sought is to Sections 47 (1) and 16 (1, 2 & 4) to allow for the Introduction of electronically downloadable voters’ card or any other form of ID acceptable to the commission.
Also being sought is strict penalties for political parties that deploy unaccredited agents on Election Day in a new sub-section as well as failure to submit dates and venues of party congresses and primaries on schedule in compliance with the rules and guidelines of their party primaries.
Kuna said: “The presentation has briefly drawn attention to the key areas the Commission seeks amendments. These areas are informed by the experiences of the Commission in the conduct of elections since the new Act came into effect in 2022.
“While these 15 issues in the Constitution and the Electoral Act 2022 require legislative attention; it is important to draw attention to the need for extensive deliberation so that the solution to today’s problems do not create even bigger problems in future.”
INEC Chairman Prof Mahmood Yakubu spoke of the need for the National Assembly to expedite action on the amendments to the Electoral Act ahead of the 2027 elections.
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 organising, 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.
“As we are aware, 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). The present Commission was determined to change the embarrassing narrative.
“After a thorough review, we came to the conclusion that the problem was not one of technical capacity. Nigerian printers have the capacity to meet our needs. 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 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 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).
“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 appealed to the National Assembly to expedite action to conclude the electoral legal framework to give the Commission enough time for implementation.
