The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has again restated its concern over the delay in the National Assembly’s review of the existing Electoral Act.
Chairman of the Commission, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, expressed the electoral umpire’s apprehension on Thursday when he received the Head of the European Union Follow-up Mission, led by Mr. Barry Andrews.
Professor Yakubu maintained that uncertainty over the legal framework for next general elections is a big encumbrance for INEC.
He also told the EU team that some of its recommendations towards improvement on the electoral process in the country rest heavily on legislative intervention by the National Assembly.
He said: ‘As you are aware, an election is a process governed by law. Many of your recommendations require the review of our electoral laws. For this reason, the Commission had interfaced with our National Assembly, including a retreat with the Joint Committee on Electoral Matters (Senate and House of Representatives).
‘We appeal to the National Assembly for an expeditious consideration of the electoral reform proposal. An early passage of law is critical to our planning for the elections. Uncertainty over the legal framework for the election can unsettle the work of the Commission as election draws nearer.’
The INEC Chairman, who commended the EU for its engagement with his Commission aimed at promoting the integrity of the electoral process, declared that his Commission would be willing to sustain the collaboration.
‘We look forward to the next EU EOM for the 2027 General Election. As you are aware, International Election Observation Missions are deployed on the invitation of the Commission. I want to reassure you that we will continue to engage with you.
‘Very soon, the Commission will send out invitations to the EU as well as the Commonwealth, the African Union, and ECOWAS for the 2027 General Election. We believe that the recommendations arising from your observation of our election and electoral process help to improve the quality of our elections and electoral activities.’
In his remarks, the Chief Observer of the European Union Election Observation Mission, Barry Andrews, who incidentally is a member of the European Parliament, said the focus of his team is to verify the response to the recommendations of the EU team that monitored the last general elections.
Andrews, who revealed that his team has been around in the last three weeks, applauded INEC’s genuine commitment to recommendations that would add value to the electoral process in Nigeria.
He said: ‘What we are here to do is to look at the recommendations that flowed from the overall mission, which were contained in the final report of the mission back in 2023, and we are very happy to see that there has been very significant progress against these recommendations. We recognise that there are certain time constraints, both in terms of judicial reform as well as administrative reform and, of course, constitutional reform.
‘INEC has obviously carried out its own review of the 2023 elections, and we’ll be looking forward to hearing what you have to report on the recommendations and the follow-up and implementation of those recommendations since 2023.
‘There are specific areas that require legislative action that I’ve referred to in my opening comments, and we would be delighted as a team to hear from you about what progress has been made and what concerns you have about obstacles in the future, and particularly around constitutional change, which is obviously a little bit more difficult.’
Other members of the visiting delegation were Mr. Gautier Mignot, EU Ambassador to Nigeria and ECOWAS; Mr. Ralph-Michael Peters, Election Expert and Team Lead; Ms. Eirini-Maria Gounari, Election Legal Expert.
Others were Mr. Maros Gabriel, Election Administration Expert, and Ms. Laolu Olawumi, Programme Manager, Democracy and Rule of Law, EU Delegation.