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Your Excellency the Deputy Senate President, Distinguished Senator Ovie Omo-Agege,
The Chairman and Members of the Senate Committee on INEC,
The Chairperson and Members of the House of Representatives Committee on Electoral Matters;
Honourable National Commissioners of INEC
Resident Electoral Commissioners
Our development partners representing ECES and IFES
Senior Officials of the Commission
Ladies and Gentlemen
1. On behalf of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), I am pleased to welcome you all to this historic retreat. I would like to especially welcome His Excellency the Deputy Senate President, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, the Chairman and Members of the Senate Committee on INEC and the Chairperson and Members of the House of Representatives Committee on Electoral Matters to this retreat. I am glad to note that this is the first time that the Commission and members of the National Assembly are coming together to discuss issues relating to the electoral legal framework in this manner.
2. Late last year, the Commission received from the Senate Committee on INEC “A Bill for an Act to Amend the Electoral Act (No. 6) 2010 and for Related Matters, 2019”. The 26 Clauses in the Bill seek to amend several sections of the Electoral Act ranging from the neutrality of electoral officials; compilation, display and storage of the voters’ register; legal recognition for electronic accreditation of voters; party primaries and the nomination of candidates for elective offices by political parties; and a new provision to address the recurrence of the “Kogi conundrum” where a Governorship candidate died between the commencement of polls and the declaration of winner, a situation not envisaged and clearly without any legal remedy under the Constitution, the Electoral Act or even the Commission’s regulations and guidelines. The new amendments also seek to empower the Commission to deepen the deployment of technology in the management of the voters’ register as well as voting and result collation processes.
3. The Commission has reviewed the provisions of the Bill and is presenting its comments at this meeting, highlighting areas of agreement and where we believe the National Assembly may wish to reconsider some of its proposals.
4. Beyond that, the Commission is proposing new areas of amendments to the Electoral Act, drawing from our experience in managing elections, including matters arising from litigations. For instance, we should find a way to deal with a situation in which Returning Officers are compelled to declare winners under duress. With 809 pre-election petitions filed before the 2019 general election, the electoral legal framework should provide clear procedures for party primaries and consequences for violation. Similarly, the right under the law to file pre-election cases in different categories of High Courts often leads to what lawyers call “forum shopping” by litigants and conflicting judgements by courts of coordinate jurisdiction on the same case, sometimes even on matters already settled by superior courts. We also need a new definition of over-voting with emphasis on accredited voters rather than the number of registered voters in a polling unit. Doing so will make the management of the margin of lead principle easier and considerably reduce, if not totally eliminate, the incidence of inconclusive elections and the cost associated with conducting supplementary elections which in most cases merely validate the outcome of the first ballot.
5. There are other critical areas of reform, one of which is to deepen the deployment of technology in elections. Already, the Commission has an electronic register of voters. Similarly, voter accreditation has also gone electronic. It is time for a new legislation to remove all encumbrances to further deployment of technology in the electoral process, especially in the accreditation of voters and transmission of election results. Sections 49 and 67 of the draft Bill deal with these twin issues. These sections will be thoroughly discussed at this retreat. Working with the National Assembly, it is our hope that the 2019 general election will be the last mainly manual election in Nigeria.
6. We are encouraged by the determination of the National Assembly to pass the Electoral Act amendment Bill expeditiously. This is very important to the preparations for especially the next general election. Where the passage of the Bill is delayed, it will affect the formulation of regulations and guidelines as well as the review and publication of the manual necessary for the training of ad-hoc staff for elections because both documents draw from the legal framework. There is need to expedite the process, particularly because the Bill under consideration at this retreat is the one emanating from the Senate. The House of Representatives is working on its own Bill. Given the urgency of the situation, the two chambers of the National Assembly (Senate and House of Representatives) may wish to consider adopting the current Bill and to organise a joint public hearing for the passage of the amendments into law in earnest.
7. This is more so because some of the far-reaching amendments proposed by the National Assembly would require the procurement of new equipment, training of election officials and piloting of new procedures ahead of the general election. Early and adequate preparation is critical. Late deployment disrupts preparations and in an electoral process governed by fixed timelines provided by law, postponement must be avoided because of its far-reaching consequences as we have witnessed a number of times in our recent history.
8. Let me now briefly touch on a critical area of reform that has dragged on for far too long. Here I am referring to the prosecution of electoral offenders. The Commission is aware that this matter is being handled separately by the National Assembly and therefore not part of the Bill to be considered at this retreat. However, we look forward to the expeditious passage of the “Bill for an Act for the Establishment of the National Electoral Offences Commission” sponsored in the Senate by Senator Abubakar Kyari and co-sponsored by Senator Ovie Omo-Agege which passed second reading yesterday Wednesday 4th March 2020. It is also on record that the “Electoral Offences Commission (Establishment) Bill 2020” sponsored in the House of Representatives by Hon. John Dyegh passed first reading on Thursday 27th February 2020.
9. The nation can no longer afford to foot drag on this important legislation which will provide the framework for dealing with impunity and brigandage in elections which are becoming more brazen essentially because violators of electoral laws are not effectively prosecuted. The Commission appreciates the efforts of members of the National Assembly in spearheading the passage of the Bill into law. We also note the commitment of the executive to the matter. The Uwais Committee on Electoral Reform recommended it in 2009. The Lemu Committee on the 2011 post-election violence made a similar recommendation which was accepted in the Government Whitepaper on the report. Most recently, the Nnamani Committee on Electoral Reform made the same recommendation in 2017 which was also accepted by Government. However, eleven years since the Uwais recommendation, we are still talking about the prosecution of electoral offences. We would like the 9th National Assembly to make history by passing this important Bill into law. It’s time to walk the talk.
10. On this note, let me once again appreciate the presence of members of the National Assembly at this historic meeting of law makers and election managers on the reform of the electoral legal framework. I am confident that we will have a robust discussion in the best interest of our electoral and democratic processes.
11. Finally, this retreat is made possible by the support of our development partners, the European Centre for Electoral Support (ECES) and the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES). The Commission appreciates the untiring and consistent support of these organisations to democratic consolidation in Nigeria.
12. I thank you all and God bless.
