Okoye
The National Commissioner and Chairman,
Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye, told FRIDAY
OLOKOR that the President’s decision to decline assent to the 2018
(Amendment) Electoral Bill passed by the National Assembly will not
affect the credibility of the 2019 elections.
Did INEC make any input to the controversial 2018 (Amendment) Electoral Bill?
The commission made inputs to the Bill
that the National Assembly passed and forwarded to the President of the
Federal Republic of Nigeria for assent. The commission took on board the
lessons learnt from the conduct of the party primary elections of the
different political parties preparatory to the conduct of the 2015
general election, the general election itself and the petitions filed in
relation to the said election. Part of the lessons gave rise to the
Determination of Pre-Election Matters (Fourth Alteration No.21) Act in
the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, providing
timelines for the disposal of pre-election matters. By the alteration,
aggrieved persons in pre-election matters shall file their matters
within a period of 14 days from the date of the occurrence of the event,
decision or action complained of in the suit. A court in every
pre-election matter shall deliver its judgment in writing within 180
days from the date of the filing of the suit and an appeal from a
decision in a pre-election matter shall be filed within 14 days from the
date of the delivery of the judgment appealed against while an appeal
from the said decision shall be heard and disposed of within 60 days
from the date of the filing of the appeal.
Opposition parties and many
Nigerians are worried that the President’s decision to decline assent to
the 2018 (Amendment) Electoral Bill will give room for rigging of the
2019 general elections. What are the unique features of the new
Electoral Bill which make it different from the Electoral Act currently
in use by INEC?
In the Bill transmitted to the President
for assent, the lawmakers’ strengthened Section 87 of the Electoral
Act, making it mandatory for political parties wishing to organise party
primaries to publish the time, the date and the venue of such primaries
in two national dailies at least 10 days before the said primaries.
The National Assembly also amended
Section 49 of the Electoral Act and prescribed that “The Presiding
Officer shall use a Smart Card Reader or any other technological devise
that may be prescribed by the commission, for the accreditation of
voters, to verify, confirm or authenticate the particulars of the voter
in the manner prescribed by the commission.”
The National Assembly also amended
Section 52 of the Electoral Act and prescribed that the commission shall
adopt electronic voting in all elections or any other method of voting
as may be determined by the commission from time to time. Furthermore,
the Bill declared invalid any election conducted at a polling unit
without prior recording in the forms prescribed by the commission of the
quantity, serial numbers and other particulars of result sheets, ballot
papers and other sensitive electoral materials made available by the
commission for the conduct of the election. The Bill also made it
mandatory that the Presiding Officer shall announce the result of
elections at a polling unit and transmit same in the manner prescribed
by the commission among other new provisions.
In what ways do you think the new Electoral Bill will strengthen our electoral system?
As I pointed out, the commission
forwarded a cluster of amendments to the National Assembly for
incorporation into the Bill. The commission attended public hearings
organised by the National Assembly and made its position public in
relation to some of the proposed amendments. The commission is
proceeding with the conduct of the 2019 general election based on the
existing law. The Electoral (Amendment) Act 2015 gave the commission
additional powers in the conduct of elections. Section 52(2) of the said
amendment gave the commission broad powers to determine the procedure
that will guide voting at an election. So, the Bill forwarded to the
President for assent contains additional safeguards to strengthen the
electoral process but the existing laws give the commission enough
latitude to conduct credible elections.
Let me say this, the conduct of credible
elections is a multi-stakeholder venture. The political parties must at
all times play by the rules. The security agencies must commit to
securing the environment and build confidence in the electoral process.