IT is a no-brainer that Nigeria’s rather abysmal state and dismal fortune is largely rooted in a skewed, even perverse, leadership recruitment process. The terribly high statistics on poverty, out-of-school children, open defecation, poor electricity access and other features of underdevelopment can lead to no other verdict. Much of the problem is of course rooted in Nigeria’s extremely defective constitution. As we noted in a previous editorial, there is no doubting the submission that the inherent flaws in the existing constitutional framework manifest in weak delivery of governance arising from weak political structures and institutions; declining sense of citizenship and patriotism; and an increasing multi-dimensional poverty and inequality. As the report of the National Summit on the Future of Nigeria’s Constitutional Democracy held in July by a group of eminent Nigerians called The Patriots, in collaboration with the Nigerian Political Summit Group (NPSG), captures most poignantly, the same defective constitutional framework has enabled acute corruption, insecurity across regions; sectional, ethnic, and religious conflicts; and poor infrastructure.
Against this backdrop, it should be sufficiently clear that every effort in the direction of a restructuring of Nigeria’s electoral process deserves the backing of stakeholders. In this connection, it is cheering that a non-governmental, advocacy organisation, YIAGA Africa, and the International Press Centre (IPC), in partnership with the European Union Support to Democratic Governance in Nigeria Phase Two (EU-SDGNII), have launched a set of proposals for improving Nigeria’s electoral process. The objective of the proposals captured in a document tagged Citizens Memorandum for Electoral Reforms is to address the inadequacies, complexities and ambiguities in the 2022 Electoral Act and align the electoral legal framework with landmark judicial rulings that improve the electoral process. The well-researched document is meant to serve as a resource tool for legislators and other election stakeholders to understand priority electoral amendments and their strategic objectives.
The intendments of the memorandum were well elucidated during Yiaga Africa/IPC’s recent consultative roundtable with media practitioners in Abuja, held with the support of the European Union. The forum attended by civil society groups, EU partners, journalists, and newsroom editors dwelt on citizens’ demands for priority electoral reforms. As articulated by the organisers, the proposals stem from a comprehensive analysis of current challenges and the need to rebuild public trust in the electoral process. According to the Executive Director of the IPC, Lanre Arogundade, the National Assembly’s resumption to conclude work on constitutional amendments provides ample opportunity to intensify advocacy on electoral reforms. His views were echoed by Dr. Tony Onyima, a Senior Lecturer at Paul University, Awka, who posited that democratic sustenance is impossible without electoral reform, and urged the media to report issues with greater clarity, vision, and commitment to national development.
The proposed amendments to the Electoral Act are to strenthen INEC’s independence by reviewing the process of appointments into the commission, additionally specifying professional skills and qualifications and introducing timelines for INEC appointments, among others; strengthen state electoral commissions by removing the power to appoint its chairmen from governors; improve INEC’s efficiency by unbundling it, creating separate bodies to regulate politcal parties and prosecute electoral offenders; conduct elections earlier than the current 150 days enshrined in the constitution; conclude all pre-election matters before the election; reduce the timeline for handling election petitions to 90 days from the date of filing the suit; terminate all pre-election matters at the Court of Appeal, and introduce diaspora and out-of-country voting. Other proposals are to create special seats for women in the legislature, make political parties to have functional and verifiable offices in at least 24 states, and give women 35 percent positions in all of their governing bodies.
The memorandum also canvasses mandatory voter education by INEC, the National Orientation Agency and civil society groups; the use of other means of identification such as driver’s license, international passport, etc, to vote; mandatory audit of the voter register by INEC to remove duplications and ineligible voters; early voting by workers on essential duties such as security personnel, INEC staff, election observers and journalists; accessibility of electoral results to persons living with disability, and solidification of INEC’s power to delimit constituencies. In addition, the memorandum seeks sanctions for parties that fail to submit their membership registers and delegates’ lists at least 30 days before primaries, congresses or conventions; the prohibition of parties from withdrawing candidates after a two-week period following the publication of the final list of candidates, except in cases of death; compulsory electronic transmission of results, and the introduction of timelines for the mandatory conduct of testing and mock exercises for technologies deployed by the electoral commission.
From the foregoing, it is not hard to surmise that the memorandum incorporates lessons from past reforms, the 2023 general election, and recommendations from domestic and international election observers. We believe that the recommendations are patriotic and commonsensical, and should be implemented by the National Assembly working in conjunction with the state assemblies. In addition, we want vote buying to be decisively addressed, and for political parties to be funded by the generality of their members rather than moneybags. It is clear that with the present arrangement, politicians do not fear the people, knowing that they can easily manipulate them with money. All of this has to change if Nigeria is to see better days.
We commend Yiaga Africa/IPC for a job well done. If Nigeria gets better through electoral reform, it will be for the benefit of all Nigerians, not the authors of the Citizens Memorandum on Electoral Reform alone. If Nigeria will not send mechanics to represent it at the FIFA World Cup, then it cannot scoff at Yiaga Africa/IPC’s push for professional competence and skills as part of the criteria for the appointment of the INEC chairman. We also believe that giving journalists and other essential workers the opportunity to vote, removing the power to appoint the INEC chairman and state SIEC chairmen from the president and governors, respectively; deciding pre-election cases before election and deciding all electoral disputes before the swearing in of winners are recommendations that have the potential to advance Nigeria’s development narrative if faithfully implemented. What is more, the proposals align broadly with the recommendations by The Patriots/ NPSG, proving that there is a heightened consciousness among Nigerians for a Nigeria that is truly fit for purpose.