National Assembly to enact new Electoral Act this year

A new Electoral Act that will guide the conduct of the 2019 elections will be ready before the end of 2016, the Senate has assured.

At a day summit on Electoral Reform organised by the Senate Committee on Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in collaboration with the Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre (PLAC) in Abuja, Senate president, Bukola‎ Saraki, said the National Assembly would also consider halting the trend of “inconclusive elections” in the country.

“‎We must conclude the amendment by the end of the year. My view is that politics start now and early; let us amend the areas we all agreed on because we may not agree on all the issues,” Saraki said.

‎This is even as the INEC has declared that all pending bye-elections would be concluded before the end of July.

According to Saraki, ‎the National Assembly would also consider streamlining the roles of security agencies during elections.

The Senate president also said the new Electoral Act might grant the request of Nigerians in Diaspora to be allowed to participate in general elections, pointing out that the plight of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) regarding the need to be allowed to take part in future elections would be considered.

He said: “It should be borne in mind that the Electoral (Amendment) Act, 2015 had in fact made far reaching amendments on the role of the Police before and during elections, especially the issue of holding of rallies and meetings by political parties (S.94) and the role and operational deployment of the Armed Forces during elections (S.29). These provisions were designed as an attempt to ensure the democratic character of free and fair elections.

“Other important issues this retreat will be expected to deliberate on and come up with a clear direction for the Senate would include, the issue of the card reader and the desirability or otherwise of using the card reader exclusively for accreditation and voting in our electoral process; and the necessary framework for independent candidature – how best to operationalise and ensure that no candidate is placed in a vulnerable or compromised position by a party or external factors but rather ensure that our electoral system provides to all equal access and a chance to aspire as they deem fit.”

In his remark, Ike Ekweremadu, deputy Senate president, called for early primaries by political parties to make the nation’s electoral process more credible.

He noted that late conduct of primaries by political parties owing to constitutional restrictions posed serious challenges to the electoral system, while the parties’ penchant for indirect primaries had undermined internal democracy in the political parties.

The senator, who also chairs the Senate Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution, stressed the need for Nigeria to learn from countries like United States of America and Ghana where primaries were conducted a year before the elections.

This, he stressed, will allow the winning candidates to raise sufficient campaign funds for the larger contests.

He added: “Early primaries afford parties and candidates the time to visit every part of the country/constituency. It also allows them to initiate and shape the national conversation about their identity and future direction, defining ideologies and manifesto.

“Early primaries will help the judiciary to conclude all pre-election litigations and assist the election management body to have ample time to plan and deliver credible elections.”

The lawmaker, who also canvassed staggered primaries, said holding primaries in different states on different dates for presidential aspirants, for instance, would “allow the optimisation of the use of resources such as security forces and increases the possibility of closer scrutiny and transparency and management.”

INEC chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, disclosed that all pending rerun elections would have been concluded by July 31.

Yakubu said since the conclusion of the 2015 general election, INEC had conducted a total number of 129 elections which he listed to include: 49 rerun elections out of the 80 nullified polls by elections petitions tribunals; 10 bye-elections in various constituencies resulting from the death of members of state and national assemblies; 68 elections in Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and two end of tenure elections in Kogi and Bayelsa states, among others.

He also said 23 election certificates were withdrawn in accordance with court rulings and such certificates re-presented to rightful winners of elections in both the Senate and House of Representatives.