Forum Calls For Further Amendment To Electoral Act 2022

The Electoral Forum, a civil society-led initiative aimed at reforming the nation’s electoral process, has called for further amendments to the Electoral Act 2022.

The Forum made the call at the end of its recent sixth technical session held via Zoom and supported by the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA).

The association which was inaugurated in 2021 by the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Mahmood Yakubu, met to discuss electoral issues bothering on the recent conduct of political party primaries, emergence of candidates for the 2023 election, and Ekiti and Osun States governorship elections.

The Forum said future amendments to the Electoral Act should address vote-buying and delegate selection process, amongst others, during elections.

The forum’s chairman, Professor Adebayo Olukoshi, in a communique he issued after the meeting, said members “expressed concerns about the integrity and survival of our democratic system and agreed that the Electoral Act 2022 requires a further amendment to safeguard the process. Participants particularly noted issues of the nomination of candidates and election of delegates as very important aspects of the electoral process and should be conducted appropriately.”

The Forum said the recent Ekiti and Osun governorship elections showed that “our elections are getting better although still challenged by vote-buying and selling.”

The statement further reads, “All stakeholders did better – INEC, security agencies, and the electorate. Voter mobilization had improved with a higher turnout of 54.48% turnout in relation to PVC collection. The Forum expressed concerns about vote buying and selling and the high number of rejected votes. For instance, 18,674 invalid votes/rejected votes were recorded during the Osun election.

“In conclusion, recognizing that consolidation of democracy involves the widespread acceptance of rules to guarantee political participation and political competition, The Electoral Forum proposed some recommendations (see the advocacy asks for more detailed recommendations), such as:

• Further amendment of the Electoral Act is required in some key areas including the delegate selection process to ensure the quality of delegates, and address vote buying and selling, amongst others.
• INEC and CSOs should develop and promote a programme of education on the new Electoral Act so that both the voting public and other interested stakeholders have a full and much better understanding of the provisions of the Act.
• Firm, consistent, and uniform enforcement of the Electoral Act and INEC’s regulations and guidelines to ensure fairness and equity.
• INEC should ensure parties submit membership register and delegate lists (situations of indirect primaries) timely to enable proper verification of the names submitted. And only primaries monitored by INEC should be accepted.
• There is a need for the reform of the process of candidates’ emergence with a specific focus on the quality of delegates that would participate in the selection of candidates (party primaries).
• Beyond the election period, there is a need for a deeper and more regular public education on the Electoral Act INEC’s regulations and guidelines and the electoral procedures by INEC, parties, CSOs, and NOA.
• Vote buying and selling as well as delegate inducements should be criminalized with strict enforcement of penalties through collaborative efforts amongst relevant agencies including Police, EFCC, ICPC, and INEC.
• A reconstruction and reconfiguration of voting cubicles to further guarantee the secrecy of the ballot/voting.