FELIX NWANERI writes on renewed calls for electoral reform ahead of the 2027 general election in order to further strengthen Nigeria’s democracy and ensure credibility of the electoral process
There is no doubt that calls for electoral reform has remained a recurring decimal in Nigeria. Advocates of the reform predicate their call on the need to further strengthen Nigeria’s democratic process and ensure credibility of the electoral process.
The current Fourth Republic, which commenced in 1999 after long years of military rule, has equally had its own fair share of this call. While some successive governments heeded such call by initiating measures to improve on what they met on ground, demand for electoral reform has not abated.
Uwais Electoral Reform Committee
Prominent among efforts as 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’s administration response to the belief that the 2007 general election fell short of expectations. Yar’Adua had charged the 22-member committee to make proposals for electoral reform, having admitted in his inaugural speech on May 29, 2007, that the election that brought him to power was flawed.
And as expected, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), not only made a submission to the ERC, but 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.
The report was submitted on December 11, 2008. The report had six volumes. Volume one dealt with the main report, while volume two and three dealt with memoranda received by the committee that comprised 22 parts and analysis of the presentations made at the public hearings held by the committee.
Volume four, which was in 13 parts, contained the verbatim report of the public hearings, while volume five and six contained reports of retreats held with foreign experts and appendix to the main report. 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 Uwais committee, 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 electoral offenders. Drawing from the ERC’s recommendations, the executive prepared a white paper that formed the basis for drafting the Constitutional Amendment Bill.
Comprehensive electoral reform must extend beyond INEC to encompass the entire democratic ecosystem
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 Prof. Attahiru Jega-led INEC.
Jega, a former Vice Chancellor of Bayero University, Kano, and former national president of Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), waappointed by then President Goodluck 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 in the country’s electoral process. This was justified by commendations INEC received after the 2015 elections from both local and foreign election observers.
Nnamani-led Constitution and Electoral Reform Committee
It was another journey to electoral reform 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 President of the Senate, Ken Nnamani, and its terms of reference centered on 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 the Uwais committee in order to make recommendations that would stand the test of time.
Some stakeholders, however questioned the essence of the 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.
The position of the 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.
Interestingly, Nnamani chaired the sub-committee on electoral reform at the confab, an exercise Buhari described as a misplacement of priority. 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.
Unlike previous reports on electoral reform, the committee did not recommend the establishment of an Electoral Offences Commission. It rather proposed expansion of courts by building more courtrooms and appointment 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 conclude its job with the report; it submitted four proposed bills, two of which sought the establishment of the new agencies.
The other two 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 of the report 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, the bill, if signed into law at that time, will affect the conduct of the 2019 general election, which was few month0s away. The bill sought to address a plethora of issues peculiar to Nigeria’s polity such as cost of elections, 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 it over restriction of political parties to direct primary elections for nomination of candidates. The electoral bill was thereafter reworked by the National Assembly, which the Senate and House of Representatives passed on January 25, 2022. As expected, Buhari assented to it on February 25, 2022, thereby repealing the Electoral Act 2010 to pave the way for the Electoral Act 2022.
2023 polls and EU’s damning verdict
The belief ahead of the 2023 elections was that INEC under its present chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, would conduct free, fair and credible elections in 2023. However, the expectation that the Electoral Act 2022 would help sustain the appreciable success recorded in the 2015 and 2019 elections did not materialise given the reactions that trail the outcomes of the polls and reports of some observer groups.
One of the groups, the European Union Election Observation Mission (EU EOM), in its final report on the polls, presented by the Chief Observer of the Mission and a member of the European Parliament, Barry Andrews, noted that shortcomings in law and electoral administration hindered the conduct of the elections and damaged trust in INEC.
“In the lead up to the 2023 general election, Nigerian citizens demonstrated a clear commitment to the democratic process. The election exposed enduring systemic weaknesses and therefore signal a need for further legal and operational reforms to enhance transparency, inclusiveness, and accountability,” the EU Mission said.
On the way forward, the observer group offered 23 recommendations for consideration by Nigerian authorities as part of its contribution to improve future elections, with six priority areas. They include need to remove ambiguities in the law, establishment of a publicly accountable selection process for INEC members, real-time publication of and access to election results, provision of greater protection for media practitioners, addressing of discrimination against women in political life, and impunity regarding electoral offences.
In its reaction to the EU EOM report, the Tinubu administration, 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 to the President on Special Duties, Communications and Strategy, Dele Alake (now Minister of Solid Mineral Development), said the EU Mission had a limited coverage of the elections.
It added that the EU Observer Mission based its findings on rumours, social media commentaries and statements made by the opposition parties. The statement read in part: “Sometime in May, we alerted the nation, through a press statement, to the plan by a continental multilateral institution to discredit the 2023 general elections conducted by INEC.
The main target was the presidential election, clearly and fairly won by the then candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Ahmed Tinubu. “For emphasis, we want to reiterate that the 2023 general election, most especially the presidential election, won by President Bola Tinubu/All Progressives Congress, were credible, peaceful, free, fair and the best organised general election in Nigeria since 1999.
“There is no substantial evidence provided by the European Union or any foreign and local organisation that is viable enough to impeach the integrity of the 2023 election outcomes. “EU EOM observed the elections through 11 Abujabased analysts, and 40 election observers spread across 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.”
INEC also disagreed with the EU Mission report, saying it is unfair to judge the commission and the entirety of the polls based on a few glitches. INEC’s then National Commissioner and Chairman of Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye, said the “glitch in downloading the presidential election result” was not a solid reason to judge the electoral body’s performance during the elections.
Okoye, who argued that one good thing is that the law empowers political parties to know what goes on at the polling units, added: “Almost all the political parties nominated and got accredited at least over 170,000 polling agents. What that means is that they had primary evidence of the results from the polling units. “It is those results from the polling units, together with the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) as a machine itself that goes to the collation centre.
If we are truly committed to democracy, we must be bold enough to reform the process to better reflect the will of the people and the principles of justice, accountability and inclusion
So, it is not true for a political party to rely only on results uploaded in order to get the evidence with which it wants to prosecute its case in court.” He, however, said that INEC will holistically look at the reports by the EU Mission and other observer groups and draw positives from them.
“We are going to harmonise all the reports by international bodies that have been presented and we are going to look at the reports holistically. “From the report presented, the EU made mention of the fact that there have been significant improvements in our electoral process and there have been so many positives to this particular election.
One of the positives is that we registered over 93 million Nigerians during this election. “Not only that. If you look at the reports submitted by international observers, in terms of voter accreditation, the BVAS performed optimally. Also, recommendations have been made on administrative and legal issues and we are going to harvest them and implement them.”
The main opposition parties – Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Labour Party (LP) – however, faulted the Federal Government’s position on the EU EOM report. Both parties insisted that the elections, particularly the presidential poll, witnessed several flaws that affected the outcome.
A civil society group, Transition Monitoring Group (TMG), in its reaction, said it is disheartening that the Federal Government and INEC dismissed the EU-EOM, which they invited to monitor the elections. Chairman of the TMG, Auwal Rafsanjani, particularly noted that local observers and civil society groups working on election observation and democracy had also raised similar concerns about gaps in the electoral process in Nigeria. “The recommendations by the European Union align with the views of many civil society groups and local observers.
It is imperative that the government and INEC review those recommendations and work towards addressing the gaps in the electoral processes in order to make our electoral system more transparent, accountable and participatory to restore confidence in the process,” he said. Rafsanjani also emphasised that it is only when the government genuinely ensures that free and fair elections hold that democracy and good governance can be consolidated and achieved in Nigeria.
His words: “We urge President Tinubu to take courage and admit to the shortcomings with the electoral process, which is evident by the violence and several election petitions going on in the country and the reduction of Nigerian’s participation in the elections. He should emulate late President Umar Musa Yar’Adua, who admitted that there were gaps in his election and committed to reform the electoral system.”
2027 rekindles debate
It is echoes of electoral reforms again ahead of the 2027 general election. According to some stakeholders, it is imperative that the present administration and INEC review the recommendations of the various reports on electoral reform 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.” Former President Jonathan, who seemed to be on the same page with Agbakoba, has equally called for sweeping reforms in Nigeria’s electoral system to strengthen democracy, enhance accountability, and ensure the legitimacy of elections.
Speaking at the National Action Plan for Electoral Reform Dialogue, organised by the Abuja School of Social and Political Thought, last month, Jonathan emphasised the need for structural changes to improve the nation’s democratic processes. Represented by the Executive Director, Goodluck Jonathan Foundation, Ann Iyonu, the former president acknowledged that while Nigeria has made progress since returning to democratic rule in 1999, the electoral process remains riddled with flaws.
His words: “Nigeria has made notable progress since our return to democratic rule, but we must acknowledge that our electoral system still faces significant challenges. If we are truly committed to democracy, we must be bold enough to reform the process to better reflect the will of the people and the principles of justice, accountability, and inclusion.”
Jonathan proposed several key reforms, beginning with the creation of an independent Office of the Registrar of Political Parties, which, according to him, would be responsible for ensuring internal party democracy and discipline. “Parties are the foundation of any democracy, but in our context, they have become vulnerable to opportunism and instability.
We have seen a disturbing rise in the practice of cross-carpeting – elected officials defecting from the parties under which they were elected, often without ideological justification or accountability to the electorate. “To remedy this, we should strongly consider the establishment of an independent Office of the Registrar of Political Parties charged with regulating party operations, promoting internal democracy, and enforcing party discipline,” he said.
The former president added that the registrar should have the “authority to declare the seat of any defector vacant,” noting that this system has worked in countries like Kenya and Malawi. According to him, this reform will affirm the principle that the electoral mandate belongs to the people and not to individual ambition. Calling for changes to the process of appointing the chairman of INEC, Jonathan suggested that an independent panel should screen and nominate candidates.
“Credibility of elections rests heavily on the neutrality and competence of INEC. So many questions have continued to be raised on the propriety of the process of appointing the INEC chairman. “I believe that Nigeria can also improve the process by establishing an independent screening and nomination mechanism comprising representatives from the judiciary, civil society, academia, trade unions, and professional bodies. “This reform will reduce perceptions of bias, it will promote public trust in INEC, and enhance the legitimacy of its decisions,” he said.
He further stressed the importance of resolving all post-election disputes before the swearing-in of elected officials, arguing that unresolved court cases after elections disrupt governance and erode public confidence. “It creates confusion and undermines governance when candidates with unresolved election cases assume office only to be later removed by the courts. This undermines the authority of the office and the credibility of the electoral process,” he said.
He suggested streamlining the judicial process by “reducing the number of courts handling electoral cases,” particularly for gubernatorial and presidential elections, to cut costs and improve efficiency. In his closing remarks, Jonathan underscored that electoral reforms are essential to building a stronger democracy and are not aimed at benefiting any particular group. “Democracy is not just about casting ballots. It is about building institutions, promoting accountability, and protecting the rights of the citizens. The reforms we are discussing today are not partisan.
Recent improvements in Nigeria’s election management like using technology for accreditation and voting with BVAS… are outcomes of reforms championed by civil society organisations and non-state actors
They are patriotic. They are not meant to benefit any one group, but to strengthen Nigeria,” he submitted Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, on his part, called for urgent electoral and judicial reforms, warning that democracy in Nigeria is at risk if the judiciary continues to determine electoral outcomes, instead of voters. Atiku stressed that reversing the decline in voter confidence required a review of key provisions of the Electoral Act. He therefore proposed that the appointment of INEC leadership should be determined through a voting system, not solely by presidential nomination, to ensure credibility.
The former Vice President added that the burden of proof in election petitions should be shifted to INEC, which must show that it complied with the law, rather than placing the responsibility on petitioners. “The task ahead is to ensure that Nigerians freely choose their leaders at the ballot box without fear that their mandate will be overturned in court,” Atiku said.
The Nigerian Civil Situation Room, which added its voice on the debate, urged the National Assembly to expedite all legislative processes on electoral reform and ensure their passage into law. Head of Programmes, ActionAid Nigeria, Celestine Odo, who made the demand during a press conference in Abuja, warned that Nigeria’s democracy is at a crossroads, threatened by a deepening government deficit. “Situation Room calls on the National Assembly to finalise and pass into law, pending reforms that will restore confidence in our elections and ultimately, our democracy,” he said.
IPC, Yiaga unveil citizens’ memorandum
It was also echoes of electoral reform at a Consultative Roundtable with media stakeholders on the Citizens’ Memorandum on Electoral Reform, convened by the International Press Centre (IPC) in partnership with Yiaga Africa and the European Union, last week, in Abuja. The roundtable comes under the auspices of Component 4 of the Support to the Media of the European Union Support to Democratic Governance in Nigeria Phase Two (EU-SDGNII) programme.
Declaring open the event, Executive Director of IPC, Lanre Arogundade, called on the media to play a vital role in the ongoing constitution and electoral reforms at the National Assembly. Arogundade said that as the National Assembly prepared to resume from its two-month recess on October 7, it has become pertinent to review the proposals for electoral reform to determine their feasibility ahead of the 2027 general election.
His words: “As the National Assembly reconvenes, it will be reviewing several proposals for electoral reforms to determine their feasibility for enactment within the statutory period required for amendments to take effect before the 2027 general election. “Historical precedent, such as the 12-year campaign for Nigeria’s Freedom of Information Act, demonstrates that meaningful reform is often achieved when the media actively champions the cause.
“Throughout this advocacy effort, the media played a significant role by serialising the bill’s content, publishing editorials, columns, news reports, features, analytical pieces, vox pops, and conducting interviews. “Additionally, media organisations and professional bodies contributed to public hearings through formal presentations. The significant influence exerted by the media contributed to the passage and enactment of the FOI bill under the administration of Goodluck Jonathan in 2011.
“Additionally, it should be noted that the electoral reforms previously mentioned were also achieved with media support, reflecting a pattern observed in other countries such as Canada, New Zealand, Mexico, South Korea, and several Eastern European nations, where the media serve as key catalysts for legislative and policy advancements.” He explained that the IPC and its partners convened the consultative forum to enhance a shared understanding of the issues with the media to enable it (media) to play a critical role.
He listed some of them as: to establish a shared agenda regarding the proposed reforms through targeted editorialisation of the issues; engage key electoral stakeholders and political actors and encourage them to consider supporting the reforms; and invite media organisations, associations, and professional bodies to actively participate in advocacy efforts. Others are to enhance public understanding and effectively address any misconceptions regarding the reforms, and encourage members of the National Assembly, as elected representatives, to consider passing the proposed reforms.
Arogundade noted that the focus is on efforts to enhance electoral processes and institutions, essential for organising credible and acceptable elections. According to him, a deep analysis of elections in Nigeria, including the numerous disputes that arise during election cycles, shows that these issues often result from weaknesses in electoral structures and processes, as well as instances where some political actors do not adhere to established rules.
“Recent improvements in Nigeria’s election management like using technology for accreditation and voting with BVAS, and empowering officials to refuse to sign results under duress, are outcomes of reforms championed by civil society organisations and non-state actors.
“The EU-SDGN cohort played a leading role in advocating for these significant changes during the first phase of the programme. The situation described above relates to the current initiative, which aims, through the citizens’ memo, to support the consolidation of democracy in Nigeria by maintaining previous progress and inclusively promoting electoral reforms.”
On the content of the citizens’ memorandum submitted to the National Assembly, Arogundade said it includes enhancing the operational independence and impartiality of INEC, facilitating early voting and diaspora participation to promote greater inclusivity, advancing party democracy and limiting the role of money in politics, improving the transparency of election results collation and transmission and enhancing the legal framework to facilitate the prompt prosecution of electoral offences.
The IPC director stated that they were products of engagements with Nigerians, which were facilitated by the EU-SDGN programme, aimed at promoting a pluralistic, participatory, and representative democracy in Nigeria through five components that provide support to INEC, the National Assembly and the judiciary, political parties, civil society, the media as well as women, youth, and persons with disabilities.
Director of Programmes, Yiaga Africa, Cynthia Mbamalu, on her part, said about two million people could not vote in the 2023 elections because of the nature of their work. She listed some of them as journalists, election observers, security personnel and INEC staff, among others, adding that it is necessary to amend the Electoral Act to incorporate early voting to enable eligible voters among them to exercise their franchise in future polls.
A senior lecturer at Paul University, Akwa, Anambra State, Dr Tony Onyima, in his presentation, urged journalists to deepen their reporting on democracy, elections and the National Assembly. Onyima, a former managing director of The Sun Newspapers, asked Nigerians to see the Electoral Act as a very important ingredient for democracy to survive.
