FELIX NWANERI writes on renewed calls for electoral reforms to further strengthen Nigeria’s democracy and ensure credibility of elections in the country ahead of the 2027 general election
There is no doubt that calls for electoral reforms have remained a recurring decimal in Nigeria and the current Fourth Republic, which commenced in 1999 after long years of military rule, has equally had its own fair share of electoral reforms.
Prominent among efforts in this regard was the 2007 Electoral Reform Committee (ERC) set up by then President Umaru Yar’Adua.
Headed by a former Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Mohammed Uwais, the committee was Yar’Adua administration’s response to the outcome of the 2007 general election, which in the views of most stakeholders, including international election observers, fell short of international standard.
Yar’Adua had in his inaugural speech om May 29, 2007, admitted flaws in the electoral process that brought him to power and he charged the 22-member committee to make proposals for electoral reforms.
As expected, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) made a submission to the ERC and contributed to its work by providing relevant documentation and clarifications as required. The committee delivered on its mandate and submitted its report within a year (December 11, 2008). Unfortunately, Yar’adua was unable to implement the recommendations of the report as he passed on before he served out his tenure.
The succeeding administration led by the then vice president, Goodluck Jonathan, promised to implement the report, but it never did until it was voted out in the 2015 general election. Justice Uwais had reasoned then that implementation of the recommendations “will significantly restore credibility to the Nigerian electoral process and usher in an era of free, fair and credible elections that will conform to international best practices.”
Among the recommendations of the report include appointment of chairman of INEC and the rest of the board by the National Judicial Council (NJC); that only the Senate should have the power to remove the INEC chairman or anyone on the board based on the NJC’s recommendation and funding of INEC directly through the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the federation.
Others are setting up of a Constituency Delimitation Commission, Political Parties Registration and Regulatory commissions; holding of presidential and governorship elections at least six months before the expiration of the term of the current holders of the offices; independent candidates, and that no elected person should assume office until the case against him or her in the tribunal or court is determined.
Of particular interest was the recommendation for the setting up of an Electoral Offences Commission to ensure prosecution of offenders. Drawing from the ERC’s recommendations, the executive prepared a white paper that formed the basis for drafting the Constitutional Amendment Bill.
Although some of the recommendations were not passed during the constitution amendment process at that time, there was no doubt that those adopted helped in the appreciable success recorded during the 2015 elections conducted by INEC under Prof. Attahiru Jega. Jega, a onetime national president of Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), was appointed by Jonathan in 2010 and it is to his credit that the country’s electoral process witnessed remarkable improvement while he held sway.
Through several innovations including the introduction of Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) and the card reader for accreditation of voters, the electoral commission restored hope on the country’s electoral process. This was justified by commendations the commission received after the 2015 elections from both local and foreign election observers.
CERC experience
It was another journey to electoral reforms eight years after the Uwais report, when President Muhammadu Buhari, who defeated Jonathan in the 2015 elections, set up a 25-man Constitution and Electoral Reform Committee (CERC) in October 2016.
The committee was headed by a former Senate President, Ken Nnamani, and its terms of reference, according to the then Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami.
The committee’s terms of reference centred around looking into possible amendments to the Constitution and Electoral Act, and coming out with a more robust and generally acceptable electoral system.
The committee was also tasked to consult far and wide, particularly with the National Assembly and judiciary as well as take a holistic look at the recommendation of Uwais Committee in order to make recommendations that would stand the test of time.
Some stakeholders, however questioned the essence of the Nnamani committee, when government is yet to implement the Uwais committee report and the recommendations of the 2014 National Conference convoked by the Jonathan administration, which made far reaching recommendations on how to reform the country’s electoral process.
Interestingly, Nnamani chaired the confab sub-committee on electoral reform, but Buhari described the conference as a misplacement of priority.
The current electoral system suffers from structural weaknesses that undermine public confidence and democratic legitimacy
The position of most stakeholders then was that the Buhari administration should have dusted the Uwais committee report, which they described as comprehensive, for implementation and avoid the duplication of effort and waste of resources, which the Nnamani committee would amount to.
The CERC submitted its report in May 2017 and recommended among others; the unbundling of INEC by establishing new agencies that will handle some of the commission’s tasks, independent candidacy, Diaspora voting and the use of technology for elections.
However, unlike previous reports on electoral reforms, the committee did not recommend the establishment of an Electoral Offences Commission. Rather, it proposed expansion of courts by building more courtrooms and appointing of more judges under the existing court system. Two new agencies, proposed by the committee to take up some of INEC’s mandates are the Political Parties and Electoral Offences Commission (PPEOC) and the Constituency Delineation Centre (CDC).
While the PPEOC will be concerned with the registration and regulation of political parties as well as prosecution of electoral offenders in regular courts, the CDC will carry out the delineation of constituencies. The committee did not end its job with the report; it submitted four proposed bills, two of which sought the establishment of the new agencies. The two other bills sought amendments to relevant parts of the Constitution and the Electoral Act.
Although the Buhari administration proved pessimists right as not much was done to implement the recommendations until it left office in May this year, the 8th National Assembly made several attempts towards deepening the electoral process. The federal legislature, for instance, in November 2018, passed the Electoral Act Amendment Bill but Buhari declined his assent.
He said signing the bill into law at that time will affect the conduct of the 2019 general election, which was few months away at that time. The bill attempted to address a plethora of issues peculiar to Nigeria’s polity such as the cost of politics, internal democracy and deployment of technology for elections.
The succeeding 9th National Assembly equally embarked on an amendment process to the Electoral Act in 2021, but Buhari also vetoed over the restriction of political parties to direct primary for nomination of candidates for elections.
The electoral bill was thereafter reworked by the National Assembly and both the Senate and the House of Representatives passed the same on January 25, 2022. As expected, Buhari assented to it on February 25, 2022, thereby repealing the Electoral Act 2010.
Unfulfilled expectations
It was against the backdrop of the Electoral Act 2020 that most Nigerians were hopeful that INEC under Prof. Mahmood Yakubu would conduct free, fair and credible polls during the 2023 general election.
This expectation was however not met. Recall that the European Union Election Observation Mission (EU EOM), in its final report on the 2023 polls, noted that shortcomings in law and electoral administration hindered the conduct of the elections and damaged trust in INEC.
According to the Chief Observer of the Mission and member of the European Parliament, Barry Andrews, the Mission offered 23 recommendations for consideration by the Nigerian authorities as part of its contribution to improve future elections.
The six-priority recommendations point to the need to remove ambiguities in the law, establish a publicly accountable selection process for INEC members, ensure real-time publication of and access to election results, provide greater protection for media practitioners, address discrimination against women in political life, and impunity regarding electoral offences.
As expected, the Federal Government, in its reaction to the EU EOM report, not only dismissed it but described the 2023 polls as the most transparent since Nigeria’s return to democratic rule in 1999.
In a statement by the then Special Adviser on Special Duties, Communications and Strategy to President Bola Tinubu, Mr. Dele Alake, the Federal Government said the EU Mission had a limited coverage of the elections. It added that the organisation based its findings on rumours, social media commentaries and statements made by the opposition parties.
2027 rekindles clamour
It is echoes of electoral reforms again ahead of the 2027 general election. According to stakeholders, it is imperative that government and INEC review the recommendations of the various at and work towards addressing the gaps in the electoral processes in order to make the country’s electoral system more transparent.
A former president of Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Olisa Agbakoba (SAN), who holds this view, in a recent interview with New Telegraph said: “Electoral reform and democratic consolidation are very important. Nigeria’s democratic architecture requires fundamental transformation beyond mere procedural adjustments. The current electoral system suffers from structural weaknesses that undermine public confidence and democratic legitimacy.
“At the centre of these challenges lies INEC, whose operational constraints have become a significant impediment to electoral integrity. INEC’s mandate has expanded far beyond its operational capacity, encompassing everything from voter registration and boundary delimitation to political party regulation and election logistics.
“This institutional overreach has compromised its effectiveness in its primary function: conducting credible elections. The Justice Uwais Committee’s 2008 recommendations offer a practical blueprint for reform, proposing the unbundling of INEC into specialized agencies with focused mandates, strengthening its neutrality in election disputes, and revolutionizing appointment processes to enhance independence.
“Comprehensive electoral reform must extend beyond INEC to encompass the entire democratic ecosystem. Campaign financing requires stringent regulation to prevent plutocratic capture of the political process. Voting accessibility demands technological and procedural innovations that maintain integrity, while expanding participation
“Dispute resolution mechanisms need restructuring to deliver timely, consistent adjudication that commands public confidence. Political parties; currently functioning as personality vehicles rather than ideological institutions, require regulatory frameworks that promote internal democracy, programmatic politics and sustainable organisational structures.”
