2023: Electoral reform, increased voter access and CVR

 

It’s barely 600 days to the next general election. According to the Independent National Electoral Commission, the 2023 general election will hold on Saturday, February 18 and March 4, 2023. Recall that as far back as February 28, 2018, INEC had published the dates for general elections for 36 years. On that day during a meeting the INEC chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, had with chairmen of political parties, he announced the dates for future elections till 2055.

 “In 2019, the dates are February 16 and March 2; in 2023, the dates are February 18 and March 4. In 2027, the dates are February 20 and March 6; in 2031, it is February 15 and March 1. In 2035, it is February 17 and March 3; in 2039, it is February 19 and March 5 and in 2043, it will hold on February 21 and March 7. In 2047, it is February 15 and March 2; in 2051, it is February 18 and March 1; in 2055, it is February 20 and March 6”, he announced. According to Yakubu, the idea “is to engender certainty in our electoral calendar, allows for long term planning by the Commission as well as stakeholders and brings our democracy in line with the best practice around the world.”

I have said, time and again, that election is not an event but a process that demands painstaking planning and implementation. Since the last general election held in 2019, INEC has been engrossed in the planning for the next sets of bye-elections, off-cycle governorship elections as well as the 2023 polls. Already, several of these bye-elections which arose as a result of death or resignation of elected representatives have been held. Likewise, the electoral management body has conducted four off-cycle governorship elections in Kogi, Bayelsa, Edo and Ondo states.

On November 6, 2021, it will be the turn of Anambra people to elect a successor to Governor Willie Obiano who is serving out his second and final term in office. INEC has similarly announced the date for the next Federal Capital Territory Area Council election. It is scheduled for February 12, 2022. Just last Wednesday, the INEC chairman announced the dates for the remaining off-cycle governorship elections in Ekiti and Osun states. According to him, the election in Ekiti State will hold on Saturday, June 18, while that of Osun State will hold on Saturday, July 16, 2022.

As part of the earnest preparations for the forthcoming polls, INEC put in place a new Strategic Plan and the Strategic Programme of Action (2022-2026), result viewing portal and has just created additional 56,000 Polling Units. The commission also plans to resume the suspended Continuous Voter Registration from next Monday, June 28, 2021. Of all of these preparations, the most heart-warming is the creation of additional Polling Units after 25 years!  On June 16, 2021, INEC announced the creation of additional 56,872 Polling Units. This brings the total number of the PUs in Nigeria to 176,846 full-fledged PUs as against it’s the initial 119,974 in the states and the FCT. In the course of the exercise, 749 of the PUs were relocated. According to INEC, “Of this figure, 232 were removed from private properties, 145 royal palaces, six mosques, 21 churches and nine shrines. The remaining 336 Polling Units were relocated for various reasons which include distance, difficult terrain, congestion, communal conflict, new settlements and general insecurity.”

With this laudable step, it will no longer be difficult for voters to get to their Polling Units. During elections in Nigeria, there is often total lockdown with restrictions of movements. Many voters have to trek long distances to get to their Polling Units. This is because, since 1996 when the military junta of Sani Abacha created the 199,974 Polling Units, INEC hitherto had not been able to create additional ones and had to make do with Voting Points and Voting Point Settlements to cater for the voting needs of many new communities which did not have Polling Units. The conversion of the hitherto VPs and VPS into full-fledged Polling Units has therefore greatly expanded voters access. Not only that, the relocation of over 700 Polling Units from worship centres and palaces will enhance voters’ confidence of balloting without let or hindrance. The major challenge this exercise has posed is the redistribution of voters into these Polling Units. Obviously, INEC will have to be very meticulous in the redistribution and effectively communicate the new Polling Units where people will vote to the potential voters well ahead of election date. As Herculean as this may be, it is not insurmountable.

I enjoin all Nigerians, 18 years and above who have not registered to seize the opportunity of resumption of Continuous Voter Registration from June 28, 2021 to enlist on the voters’ roll. It is in their interest to do so. Voting is one power the electorate have to change bad and non-performing leaders. It is time for all the youths who are dissatisfied with the state of governance in Nigeria to participate in the electoral process. INEC says the forthcoming CVR will be in two parts. There will be pre-registration where prospective registrants will fill their details on INEC registration portal and thereafter go to INEC Registration Centre for the capturing of their fingerprints and facial. Alternatively, those who are not ICT compliant can go to any of the INEC Registration Centres for their full registration. It is also an opportunity for those who want to transfer their registration to another place or who want to correct errors in their registration details to do such. Those who have lost or have damaged Permanent Voter Cards also have an opportunity to seek replacement of their PVCs.

While INEC is on course with its Electoral Project Plan and implementation, it is unfortunate that it is not surefooted on the legal regime that will guide future elections. The National Assembly for some time now has been working on a new Electoral Act and had promised to conclude work on that exercise by December 2020. That was not to be. The First Quarter of 2021 was also promised, that has come and gone, still no show. NASS has again vowed to pass the proposed legislation before the end of the Second Quarter. There is a week left in this quarter and there is no indication if this promise will be fulfilled. Meanwhile, senators and members of House of Representatives will be proceeding on this annual recess next month for about three months after which they will likely resume to receive the 2022 appropriation bill with the hope of passing it before the end of the year. If we do not want to run into a cul-de-sac as we did in 2018 when the President vetoed the bill on four different occasions, it is best to pass this electoral reform bill now and transmit the same to the President for assent, hoping that he will not find any justification to again withhold assent this time around.

A new Electoral Act now will enable INEC and other actors and stakeholders in the electoral process to be sure of the legal framework under which future elections will be conducted. This will enable them to budget and plan adequately for any interventions they want to embark upon. There will be a need for proper sensitisation of all the players in the electoral field. My appeal to the lawmakers is to pass the Electoral Act 2021 amendment bill, the Electoral Offences Commission bill and the Petroleum Industry Bill before they embark on their annual recess.

However, I am at a loss why the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), decided to nominate one of his aides, Ms. Lauretta Onochie, as a national Commissioner in INEC. This is not well-thought-out and has the potential to erode confidence of the public in the electoral management body. I fully endorse the petition of YIAGA Africa and 10 other civil society organisations who have called for the withdrawal of Onochie’s nomination. Indeed, as stated in the petition, “her appointment will greatly undermine the neutrality and impartiality of the Independent National Electoral Commission and it will increase mistrust in the INEC and Nigeria’s electoral process. By the combined effects of Section 156 (1)(a) and Third Schedule, Part 1, Item F, paragraph 14 (1), Mrs. Lauretta Onochie is constitutionally prohibited from any appointment as a member of the electoral umpire. It is against the sacred spirit of our Constitution to accept her nomination.”

One other factor that can mitigate against INEC’s success is the burning down of the commission’s critical assets by unknown gunmen. According to the commission’s chairman, 41 of its offices had been attacked in 14 states since 2019. A preliminary assessment, he said, indicates that 1,105 ballot boxes, 694 voting cubicles, 429 electric generators and 13 Sport Utility Vehicles (Toyota Hilux) were lost in the attacks. This madness has to stop if we do not want to truncate this fledgling democracy.