Coalition demands key actions on electoral amendment bill

The Coalition for Constitutional and Electoral Reforms has demanded key action from lawmakers on the electoral amendment bill.

In a statement jointly signed by Yiaga Africa, Centre for Liberty, NESSACTION, Raising New Voices, Millennials Active Citizenship Advocacy Africa and ReadyToLeadAfrica, on Thursday, the coalition said the 9th National Assembly under the leadership of the Senate President, Ahmed Lawan and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, promised Nigerians a new Electoral Act by the first quarter of 2021.

The group further stated that the Senate and House of Representatives Joint Committee on INEC and Electoral Matters invited citizens in December 2020 to make proposals for amendments to the Electoral Act (2010).

It added that the public hearing, which had wide participation from citizens, civil society organizations, political parties, professional bodies, security agencies, women-led initiatives, youth and person’s with disabilities- led groups, saw the collation of citizens’ recommendations to amend the Electoral Act.

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As the Senate and House of Representatives Joint Committee on INEC and Electoral Matters meet to deliberate on the Electoral Amendment Bill, the group called on the lawmakers to be bold and courageous in bequeathing to Nigerians an enduring new Electoral Act that would stand the test of time.

“Nigerians had spoken through their memoranda submitted at the public hearing on the proposed electoral amendment bill on December 9, 2020. Nigerians deserve a new Electoral Act that truly strengthens the capacity of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct free, fair and credible elections, that improves the quality of elections by ensuring citizens’ participation and transparency in the process, that ensures inclusion of women, youth and persons with disabilities in the electoral process and guarantees electoral integrity.

“We reiterate that Nigerians deserve a process that ensures inclusion and limits the role of money in our process. As such, the recommendation proposing both a limitation on cost of nomination for political party primaries and proper regulation of the party primary process remains fundamental in this process of electoral reform.

“In addition, the recommendation proposing the deployment of technology in our elections remains vital in promoting transparency in our process and ensuring that votes truly count,” part of the statement said.
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The group called on the Joint Committee to ensure that the proposal legalising the electronic accreditation, electronic voting, and electronic transmission of results are adopted.

It noted that introducing electronic collation and transmission of results in the Electoral Act to complement the manual process would ensure transparency, real-time reportage and build citizen confidence in the election results collation process.

“We believe that the members of the committee will not jeopardise the future of democratic and transparent elections in Nigeria by making decisions that negates democratic principles and the will of the people.

“We encourage the National Assembly to do the right thing as it sits to decide over these amendments.

“We are very interested in the success of this process and that we have a new Electoral Act to regulate the conduct of the 2021 Anambra and the 2022 Ekiti and Osun states Governorship Elections before the 2023 General Elections.

“As such, we rely on the leadership of the National Assembly to ensure that this goal is achieved.

“We hold the National Assembly to its commitment to release the proposed bill this first quarter of 2021.

“Posterity will be good to the 9th National Assembly if they give Nigerian’s a new Electoral Act that truly captures the needs of the people and supports democratic development in Nigeria. Nigerians are watching,” the group said.