INEC to partner NASS in reforming electoral process – Yakubu

.Harps on punishment for electoral offenders

.Says smart card readers has come to stay, must be protected by law

Gravely concerned about the impunity that pervade the Nigerian electoral process, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it will take serious steps in legislative reformation of the process in partnership with the National Assembly.

However, the electoral commission expressed optimism that effective sanitisation of the process could be impossible without decisive punishment meted on electoral offenders through an established Election Offences Commission and Tribunal.

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Chairman of the commission, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, reeled out INEC’s decisive action plans at a meeting with Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) at the commission’s headquarters in Abuja on Tuesday.

 He said: “The Commission is deeply concerned that elections in Nigeria, especially for executive positions, are increasingly characterised by brazen acts of impunity. The Commission plans for all elections to be successfully concluded and for the will of the people to prevail.

“It is inconceivable that INEC will make elaborate arrangement for the deployment of personnel and materials and then turn around to undermine ourselves in the field on Election Day. lmpunity has become the bane of our elections.

“The best antidote to impunity is the enforcement of sanctions under our laws without fear and favour. Where offenders are not punished, bad behaviour is encouraged”.

Considering the National Assembly as the appropriate partner to work with in achieving meaningful reformation, Yakubu said “the Commission will continue to work with the National Assembly and all stakeholders for the establishment of the Electoral Offences Commission and Tribunal recommended by the Uwais Committee on electoral reform (2008), the Lemu Committee on post-election violence (2011) and, most recently, the Ken Nnamani Committee on constitutional and electoral reform (2017).

“At the moment, INEC is saddled with the responsibility of prosecuting electoral offenders. We have drawn public attention to our constraint in this regard. We have no capacity to arrest offenders and conduct investigation without which successful prosecution is impossible.

“Over the years, we have worked closely with the Nigeria Police. Since 2015 we have received a total of 149 case files, including 16 cases arising from the 2019 General Election. The cases are prosecuted in the states where the alleged offences were committed.

“Unlike pre-election and post-election cases, there is no timeframe for the prosecution of electoral offenders. A case may go on for several years. Some of the cases were dismissed for want of diligent prosecution while in some states the Attorneys’-General entered nolle prosequi to get the alleged offenders off the hook,” Yakubu added.

The chairman promised that INEC will engage the National Assembly in enhancing the status of the Smart Card Reader (SCR).

“Let me reiterate that the SCR has come to stay. It cannot be jettisoned or abandoned. Rather, the Commission will seek ways by which its utility in elections can be enhanced for the triple objectives of verification of the genuineness of the Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs), confirmation of ownership and fingerprint authentication of voters.

“The status of the SCR must be provided for and protected by law. Similarly, accreditation data from the SCR should be used to determine over-voting and the margin of lead principle. The judgement of the Supreme Court on the primacy of the voters’ register as the determinant of over-voting in law merely draws attention to the lacuna in the electoral legal framework which must be addressed through immediate and appropriate amendment to the Electoral Act.

“The Commission will present a proposal to the National Assembly on this matter as well as other areas in which further deployment of technology will deepen the integrity of our electoral process”.

The meeting, he said, reviewed the Governorship elections in Bayelsa and Kogi states, the Brass 1 State Assembly Constituency in Bayelsa State, the court-ordered re-run elections in Kogi West Senatorial District and Ajaokuta Federal Constituency in Kogi State and the bye-election in Sabuwa State Constituency in Katsina State.

The chairman also said the meeting will “undertake internal appraisal of recent elections, beginning with briefings by the RECs responsible for the States where elections were held. Lessons learnt from these elections are important in fine-tuning our processes, especially in view of the impending review of the electoral legal framework for which the Commission will vigorously engage the National Assembly and stakeholders.

“It is for this reason that this meeting will discuss the Bill recently referred to the Committee on INEC by the Senate. Copies of the Bill have been made available to the RECs for critical evaluation and input”.

 Yakubu, however, promised that the Commission will continue to improve on the processes in spite of the extremely challenging environment created by the action and inaction of actors outside the control of the commission.