The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Mahmood Yakubu, has stated reasons for the quick actions of Nigerian lawmakers and the relevant stakeholders on the reformation of the country’s electoral system, stating that the previous electoral reform changed the trajectory of the Nigerian voting system. The INEC Chairman highlighted the need for electoral reforms at the two-day retreat between the Commission and members of the Joint Committee on Electoral Matters.

Professor Mahmood Yakubu, who made this remark during the 2-day retreat of the critical entities in the electoral reform, including the members of the National Assembly’s Joint Committee on Electoral Matters and other stakeholders, stressed that prior to the 2023 general elections in 2020, a similar programme was held and yielded a positive result, which is the Electoral Act 2022.

Professor Yakubu said that during a similar meeting, the achievements discussed showed how the 2020 retreat helped lawmakers, the election management body, and important people involved in elections to discuss different parts of the country’s electoral laws, many of which needed to be updated to support new ideas introduced by INEC, especially in technology.

The INEC Chairman also mentioned that the last reform made the “electoral laws follow court decisions from before and after elections; cleared up confusion in some areas based on feedback from national and international election observers; included best practices learnt from other places during study tours and election observation missions; and put into action some suggestions from important electoral reform committees, like the Justice Mohammed Uwais Committee (2009), the Sheikh Ahmed Lemu Committee (2011), and the Senator Ken Nnamani Committee (2017).”

As a result, Professor Yakubu reiterated that the coming together of experienced lawmakers and the electoral commission, which is saddled with the role of conducting elections in the country, to exchange insights will further promote electoral reform in Nigeria’s voting and electoral system, as it can bring achievements beyond a public hearing in a Committee Room at the National Assembly.

Recounting some of the past achievements and posing them as a drive for the swift implementation of the new reform, he said the country used to face the problem of election postponement until the electoral law was reformed. He also stated that the reform enhanced the capacity of the electoral commission to make necessary preparations for the election through the Electoral Act, which provides enough time for INEC to prepare and the swift conduct of political party primaries.

He said, “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 current Commission was resolute in altering this embarrassing narrative.

“After a thorough review, we concluded that the problem was not one of technical capacity. Nigerian printers can 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 determine which political party was fielding candidates in each of the 1,491 seats, made up of 1 presidential constituency, 28 governorships, 109 senatorial, 360 federal, and 993 state constituencies. We need information about customising 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. The Chartered Institute of Professional Printers of Nigeria (CIPPON) commended the Commission for doing everything within the country.

As a result, the electoral commission chairman urged the National Assembly Committee on electoral matters to work together to share field experience and draw attention to some of the proposed reforms and their implications for the management of elections.

He concluded by urging the National Assembly to expedite action to conclude the electoral legal framework speedily so that the Commission will have enough time for implementation.