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The Nigerian Civil Society Situation Room has stressed the need to reintroduce and transmit the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill passed by the National Assembly and declined by President Muhammadu Buhari for the President’s assent.
Head of Situation Room, Clement Nwankwo, who gave the charge in Abuja at a media briefing on the 2019 elections report, said the executive should be committed to passing reforms proposed in the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill.
He also charged the executive to champion a credible implementation of the recommendations in the 2008 Mohammed Uwais’ Panel Report.
“If the President had signed the Electoral Amendment Act into law, there would be no confusion as to whether there was an Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) server or not.
“The whole idea of electronic transmission of results was the foundation on which the electoral amendment bill was proposed. We are worried that failure to sign it resulted in questions about whether there was INEC server or not and whether there was electronic transmission or not,” he stated.
He noted that the National Assembly should speed up the process of passing the Electoral Offences Commission Bill, adding that attention should also be paid to providing a more credible framework for political finance issues that ensure transparency, accountability and fairness.
“In addition, amendments to the Electoral Act should include altering section 68 that gives absolute powers to returning officers to declare election results even where they may have done so dubiously or out of coercion.
“Criminal infractions committed en-route declaration of results should also compel a review of results announced from such incidents without requiring that remedial action be only possible through litigation at either election tribunals or the courts,” he said.
He stressed that there was an urgent need for all stakeholders to put in place processes to tackle identified lapses.
“INEC should work with civil society organisations (CSOs) to immediately commence pushing for reforms in the electoral process and working closely with all critical stakeholders to achieve lasting reforms in the electoral process,” he added.