Comprehensive reform of outdated electoral laws underway, says FG

The Federal Government, on Tuesday, spoke of its determination to carry out comprehensive legal reform in the nation with a view to addressing the challenges posed by outdated electoral laws.

The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami gave the assurance while speaking at Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room Stakeholders Forum on Elections, in Abuja.

The declaration by the AGF and Minister of Justice came even as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), hinted that those indicted for electoral offences in the past may be barred from contesting future elections in the country.

The Minister of Justice pointed out that some of the gaps in the nation’s electoral laws manifested in the recent decisions of the Supreme Court on some of the election petitions.

According to him, “One of my top priority as AGF is to lay a solid foundation for a sustainable reform of the justice sector where the rule of law takes pre-eminence over and above rule of man.

“We have also identified as top priority, the amendment of the Electoral Act and other laws in order to empower INEC and similar bodies to deal with perpetrators of serious offences.

“I have begun consultations with the leadership of the National Assembly and the Judiciary to identify key laws and priority areas for reform.

“Our priority areas will be clearly outlined in our justice sector reform that we will propose to the National Assembly and align it with their agenda in order achieve reform within the tenure of this administration”, he assured.

On his part, the INEC Chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu disclosed that as part of efforts to curb the issue of electoral violence and malpractices in the country, the Commission has resolved that those indicted for electoral offences might be barred from contesting future elections.

The INEC Chairman lamented the non-implementation of Justice Mohammed Uwais-led Electoral Reform Committee report which prescribes some punitive measures against electoral offenders.

Prof Yakubu further revealed that re-run and bye elections are more strenuous than the general election because of over concentration of individual politicians’ attention.

He ‎admitted that INEC usually faces enormous security challenges in the conduct of the elections.

His words, “INEC is really challenged and INEC is constrained by the resurgence of violence. Remember, INEC is not security forces and we are not going to take over from the security forces.

“We have our own responsibilities; responsibility to the regular staff and the ad hoc staff as well as the voting.

“Yes, we are challenged by it and we are working with the security agencies to see what we can do. But appreciate our concern, INEC does not handle security during elections,” he said.

Prof. Yakubu, however, assured that the security arrangement would be reviewed in this Saturday’s Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Area Council elections and the bye-election in Osun State.