With the resumption of the National Assembly to plenary today (Tuesday), Nigerians are expectant that they would speed up work on electoral reforms, sequel to the discordant tunes from the judiciary on electoral matters, aftermath of the 2023 general elections. The Electoral Act 2022, was a marked improvement over its precursor, the 2011 Act. However, there still exists several voids to be filled going by the inconsistencies in interpretation by the tribunals, the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court.

Coming to this reality early, members of the National Assembly committee on Electoral Act went to work late last year to collate observed weaknesses in the Electoral Act 2022. Indeed, from the court rooms came the good, the bad and the ugly of the Electoral Act 2022 and it is envisaged that a revised version of the law could emerge before the end of the year. The Joint Committee of the National Assembly held a 3-day retreat in Lagos in November 2023 to deliberate on the assignment that has been well cut-out for them. The Committee passed a couple of resolution aimed at amending the Electoral Act 2022, to address the conflicts arising from decisions of the courts.

One of the issues under consideration is that all pre-election and post-election matters be concluded before the swearing-in of successful candidates. This proposition has gained traction because of the experiences from similar climes where such have been implemented. In other democracies matters of elections are concluded before the winner takes the oath of office. This helps to prevent a situation where undue advantage is conferred on a candidate who still has a case to answer in Court. In some countries, constitutional courts have been established by law to dispense with such matters within a time frame. But in Nigeria, a person whose election is being disputed could be in office for 180 days before the apex court would decide in presidential and governorship matters.

The National Assembly joint committee also reviewed the operational challenges of INEC, and discussed mechanisms to hold election offenders accountable. They also reviewed recommendations from international and local election observers. In a communique issued and signed by the joint chairmen, Senator Sharafadeen A. Alli and Hon. Adebayo Balogun, respectively, they posited that the amendments to the Electoral Act 2022, will seek to address conflicts arising from decisions of the courts, strengthen the use of technology, and ensure that election petitions whether originating from the pre-election or post-election matters are concluded before the swearing-in of successful candidates.

Also in contemplation is the review of the issue of minimum educational qualification of candidates for respective offices, as well as address the lack of clarity in the section of the Electoral Act which provides for documentary proof of non-compliance.

While, we await the next move from the National Assembly and INEC on the law and guidelines guiding the next regime of general elections would evolve. It won’t be out of place to preview some of the other issues the 2023 elections and litigations have thrown up.

Other Areas for Amendment
Many candidates who disputed the outcome of the election could not establish their cases in court because of the limitation of 21 days for them to file their case, assemble witnesses and get witnesses from different polling booths to justify their claims before the Courts. This appears a herculean task. In some instances, there were allegations of obstructions by the electoral umpire, in releasing certified true copies of election results. This time limit is very short for a presidential candidate whose coverage area is over 176,00 polling units. The time is grossly inadequate to collate all the facts and assemble witnesses especially in a presidential election.

It is expected that the new proposed Electoral Act would make electronic transmission of election compulsory. One of the draw backs in the 2023 general election, which almost tarred its integrity, was the sudden stoppage of the transmission of results on the IReV portal of INEC. As at when President Tinubu was declared winner, results from more than 50,000 polling units were yet to be uploaded to the IReV. The involvement of technology in our electoral processes is a welcomed development but it must be tied legally and made mandatory and not left to the discretion of either INEC or the Courts. Electronic voting should be explored to the maximum in the new law.

Another area of concern has to do with membership of political parties and conduct of party primaries. The new law should remove all ambiguities in sections dealing with these two items. The Act should specify when and how the register should be submitted. After submission anybody whose name is not on the register should not be regarded as a member of that political party and therefore cannot fly the flag of the party. This would also help to stem carpet crossing after losing a primary election.

Finally, is the issue of the unbundling of INEC. This has been on the table for a while and it is more imperative that it is actualized. Over 1000 persons were arrested for different electoral infractions in the last election, INEC is already overstressed from litigations on electoral matters to go about prosecuting electoral offenders. A lot of persons get away committing such offences and because they are not punished, are not discouraged from committing them over and over again. Another body should be established to take over this aspect of INEC’s work.