With six staggered governorship polls expected next year, the Independent National Electoral Commission has begun the process of amending the 2010 Electoral Act towards ensuring improved elections.
SUNDAY PUNCH investigations showed that the INEC was seeking amendments, which would facilitate the implementation of the recommendations by Justice Muhammadu Uwais Panel on Electoral Reforms.
Among others, the amendments will ensure the setting up of the Electoral Offences Tribunal to handle cases that are related to elections.
It was gathered that the electoral body was also seeking the power to effectively supervise the emergence of candidates and ensure internal democracy in political parties.
Our correspondent learnt that the commission was not satisfied with a provision of the Electoral Act, which forbids it from rejecting candidates nominated by political parties.
A source in INEC, who pleaded anonymity, said, “There were instances where political parties submitted names of candidates who did not contest primaries and the commission was handicapped by constitutional provisions from rejecting them.”
The Chief Press Secretary to the INEC Chairman, Mr. Kayode Idowu, confirmed the commission’s moves and said the amendments were inevitable.
Idowu said, “The amendments are not likely, they are certain. The procedure and mechanism is already in motion. There are proposals that are being worked out, both from the government and the INEC.”
One of the provisions the INEC is seeking amendments to in the Electoral Act 2010 is Section 31(1-4).
Part of it states, “Every political party shall not later than 60 days before the date appointed for a general election under the provisions of this Act, submit to the commission in the prescribed forms the list of the candidates the party proposes to sponsor at the elections.”
Idowu said the commission was not comfortable with Section 31 because it restrains the INEC from encouraging internal democracy within political parties.
The spokesman said INEC had repeatedly urged the government to adopt recommendations of the Uwais committee.
The Uwais electoral reform panel in its report to the Federal Government recommended that “an autonomous and constitutionally recognised electoral offences commission should be established through a bill of the National Assembly and empowered to perform, enforce and administer provisions of the Act, investigate all electoral frauds and related offences, coordinate, enforce and prosecute all electoral offences.”
Idowu further said the commission did not abandon the prosecution of electoral offenders.
He said, “The cases have not been abandoned. There is the issue of capacity. There are 870,612 cases of multiple registrations. We are not only talking about pre-election offenders, there are also people who were caught on the election day. There is a fundamental issue of capacity.”
SUNDAY PUNCH further gathered that INEC had established an agreement with the Nigerian Bar Association to prosecute electoral offenders but the pact was hampered by administrative bottlenecks that were being resolved.
By Olamilekan Lartey Courtesy Of: Punch
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