Vote buying: INEC boss urges NASS to pass Electoral Offences Tribunal Bill

The National Chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, has urged the National Assembly to ensure the passage of the Electoral Offences Commission Tribunal before the expiration of the 8th legislature. He said the passage of Bill and subsequent establishment of the Tribunal will drastically reduce the menace of vote buying that has discredited Nigeria’s Electoral processes in recent times. Yakubu made this appeal on Monday at the National Assembly during a one day Public Hearing on Vote-Buying and Improving the Electoral Processes in Nigeria, organised by the National Assembly Joint Committee on INEC and Political Parties Matters. He acknowledged that the bill has passed first reading but advocated a speedy process of enacting the law by the 8th Assembly to give legislative backing to move to end all forms of Electoral Offences including vote buying. The INEC chairman said recommendations of three previous Commissions, the Justice Uwais Commission, the Lemu’s Commission and of recent, the Ken Nnamani Commission are enough ground for the National Assembly for fast-track the process of passing the bill establishing the Commission into law. The provisions of the Tribunal, he said, are in consonance with provisions of extant laws especially, sections 124 and 130 of the Electoral Act that criminalises vote buying among other inducements. Though vote buying is a global phenomenal and a long term problem in Nigeria, he said concerned stakeholders must proffer solutions. “Vote buying must not be allowed to defile our Electoral processes and our democracy. It is illegal, undemocratic, morally repugnant and defile the sanctity of our Electoral process. “We need to break the chain of voters’ inducement, the chain is systemic and it must be broken. We must stop vote buying”, he said. Declaring the public hearing open, Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), security agencies and all election stakeholders to ensure that the 2019 elections are free, fair, credible and transparent. He stated that this has become imperative as the country is in a delicate situation where Africa and the entire world is looking forward to what happens in the coming elections. “This is understandable when you consider that our President is the Chairman of ECOWAS. “Moreover, the Chairman of our INEC is the head of Electoral Commissions in West Africa. With these positions, it is clear that we cannot afford to conduct an election that will not be credible, peaceful, free and fair,” Saraki said. He noted that having set an enviable record in the 2015 general election, the country cannot afford to lower the standard in 2019, adding that “We must up the ante, because whatever we do will have impact on the continent and serve as a representation of Africa on the global stage.” He insisted that vote buying and election rigging remain contemporary challenges that mar the nation’s electoral process, adding “We must deal with them in such a manner that does not detract from the credibility and legitimacy of the coming 2019 polls.” Saraki said: “Let me, at this point, mention that our major concern should be entrenching global best practices in our electoral process, and ensuring that these are backed by legislations to make them sustainable and permanent. For example, the use of Incident Form to bypass the lawful process of accreditation and voting is not good for the country. We must do away with it. “This is one of those issues concerning which, whether there is a law or not, all of us who are stakeholders should come to agreement and address the anomaly. At the very least, this is one minimum condition that we must meet as we move towards 2019 polls. All stakeholders should demonstrate the fact that a credible and transparent election is far better and more important than who wins that election. “We cannot afford to send the wrong signals with our actions or inactions as we prepare for the next elections. The world must take positive cues from us that we are ready to improve on our process, and make our electoral process more transparent and commendable. This is because perception matters, as you all know. Perception is, in fact, the reality. “At this point, it does seem to me that the onus is on INEC to demonstrate its independence. It should be pro-active and take bold decisions. And this is necessary because the responsibility to conduct a credible poll is solely that of The Commission. This is elemental to retaining the confidence of the electorate. “All of us who are gathered here have the responsibility to contribute ideas based on our experiences and insights on how to cure the ills of vote buying, subverting the popular will and delegitimising the outcome of our elections. “Furthermore, we need to make suggestions on how to curb the unlawful interference by security agents in the voting process. “It is all too clear that security agents are beginning to emerge as major clogs in the election process. Reports of collusion with political actors to disenfranchise voters is very worrying indeed. “We cannot under any circumstances militarise elections, because that defeats the purpose of free, fair and credible polls. In an election, access to the polling units for the purpose of casting one’s vote is the barest minimum. “Once a voter is denied the opportunity to vote through bullying, intimidation and other forms of harassment, then vote rigging and electoral malpractice have free reign. “The security agencies work for INEC as the electoral body is the one charged by the constitution and our laws to conduct election. INEC must therefore set the rules for their engagement during elections, which they are to follow. “The Commission should further seek the co-operation of the respective security agencies to ensure strict compliance. It is that way that Nigerians can trust the process, and it will be clear to all that the right steps have been taken with regard to the involvement of security agents”. Speaker, House of Representatives, Rt. Hon Yakubu Dogora, charged INEC to ensure adequate supply of Electoral materials to every polling booths on Election Day to prevent disenfranchising numerous intending voters. Dogara cited example of how over 1000 voters were prevented from voting in his polling booth in the last bye- election in Bauchi State by inadequacy of ballot papers supplied by INEC. According to him, INEC polling officers presented just 1500 ballot papers for an election to be conducted in a unit that has over 2000 registered voters while eventually only 700 voters were accredited and voted, shutting out more than 1000 voters from voting. “Undue influence of voters has always existed in different forms all over the world. However, the recent phenomenon of direct pricing and buying of votes as if in a market square is very disturbing. It is one of the highest forms of corruption.” Dogara stated. He said the high prevalence of vote-buying in the electoral system of the country is, without any doubt, of great concern to all Nigerians and members of the global community who truly love democracy. Speaking of the effect, the Speaker said: “When political office holders defy the law and corruptly assume office, they will always operate as if they are above the law. “Vote buying and other sundry criminal manipulation of the electoral process in Nigeria have left our citizens in a state of unmitigated disaster. As a result, we have been married off to a mob. A mob that rules cannot lead us by the example of their power nor by the dictates of law. A mob that rules by fear as an inalienable tool rather than by courage. A mob that accepts the status quo rather than challenge it. Mobs don’t grow others, they only destroy others in order to grow themselves. We follow the Mob because we must, not because we are receiving any sense of significance for our own lives from them. Our democracy has stagnated and will sadly remain so until we eliminate all sham elections which have the effect of throwing up the worst of us to lead the best of us”. He said though there are enough constitutional provisions of S. 124 (1)(a);(b);(c); and S.(124)(2)(4)(5) and S. 130 of the Electoral Act, penalties are not stringent as there is also lack of political will to implement the laws as it is even if it were to offer feeble deterrence to violators. “Arrest are hardly made and even where arrests are made, prosecutions are unheard of. Condemnation is not enough, it will amount to hypocrisy, if we don’t take the bull by the horn by taking concrete steps to eliminate these evils that make mockery of our hard worn democracy”, he added. Chairman of Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC), Peter Ameh, vehemently on behalf of political parties told INEC not to use incident forms in the conduct of the 2019 elections. He said statistics had it that incident forms were used in the conduct of over 65 percent of the 2015 elections. Tunde Opalana, Abuja