The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Monday called for several amendments to the 1999 Constitution and the 2022 Electoral Act ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Top on the list are provisions for Diaspora voting, early voting for security personnel and other officials on election duty, voting rights for inmates, the creation of special seats for women and persons with disabilities, and dedicated funding for the Commission.
These proposals were outlined in a presentation by the Special Adviser to the INEC Chairman, Professor Mohammad Kuna, delivered at a retreat for the Joint Committee of the National Assembly on Electoral Matters in Lagos.
It was titled “Issues and Contentions in the Electoral Legal Framework: An Overview from INEC Submission.”
While noting that the 2023 general election was the seventh since Nigeria’s return to democracy in 1999, Kuna said INEC had also successfully conducted numerous off-cycle, bye, and re-run elections over the years.
He said: “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, and 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 have 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.”
Speaking further, he said: “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 4 issues in the 1999 constitution (as amended) and briefly reviews 11 issues in the Electoral Act that require urgent attention.
“It recommend 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.”
This, INEC said, “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.”
Also, INEC proposed an amendment of Section 14 (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, given the development in Adamawa state during the governorship election.
Also listed for amendments by the electoral body are 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.
Similarly, the INEC sought an 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.
This, Kuna noted, 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.
…Electoral Act
On the Electoral Act, the Commission sought amendments to different sections of the law for an effective electoral system and remove ambiguities/cross-referencing errors.
For instance, it said: “Section 60 (5) refers to ‘transfer’ of results while 64 (4 & 5) spoke 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 in sections 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.”
In clear terms, it sought an amendment to Section 65 (1) for 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.
…On stable funding
On funding, the agency called for “More Stable Funding Regime Substituting in Section 3 (3) the words ‘election funds… for any general election ‘are to be released’ shall be released.”
To this end, it called for amendment of Section 3(3) “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.”
…Yakubu on expeditious action
Speaking at the event, INEC chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, 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.”
“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 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 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,” the Commission added.
Yakubu further said: “We need the information for customisation 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 speedily so that the Commission will have enough time for implementation.