Electoral Management Bodies (EMB) across the world have evolved over the years. In Nigeria, the Electoral Commission of Nigeria (ECN) was established in 1959 but today, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) established in 1999, sits in its place as the country’s electoral umpire.
Backed by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) and the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended), Nigeria’s official elections umpire is saddled with the task of conducting elections, carrying out voter and political party registration, preparing logistics for polls, among other functions.
Since switching to democracy in 1999, Nigeria has had very poor antecedents in conducting free and fair elections with several incidents of questionable voters’ registration, disenfranchisement of credible voters, intimidation, bribery, violence and outright manipulation of results. These issues have negatively affected Nigerians and their trust in the electoral process, as each election year seems to show INEC struggling with the onerous task of running the country’s election.
Right out the gate, the 2019 presidential elections encountered its first problem when INEC failed to efficiently deliver election materials across the country, resulting in the postponement of the polls by a week. This issue was not completely resolved by Election Day as several polling centres still complained about not receiving election materials until midday on Election Day. There were also issues with the smart card reader deployed for authentication of registered voters leading to mass disenfranchisement, as well as complications with the manual collation process that has resulted in several court cases.
This is not the first time elections have fallen short of national, regional and international standards with the European Union citing failure on the part of the commission for the poor conduct of the 2007 general elections, and the 2011 elections being postponed at the time, as a result of a delay in election material supply.
Set up by then-President Umar Musa Yar’dua, the 2008 Electoral Reform Committee headed by retired Honorable Justice Mohammed Uwais after examining the Nigerian electoral process, submitted a report popularly known as the Uwais Report, which provided recommendations aimed at making elections more transparent. These recommendations provide probable solutions to some of INEC’s long-running issues.
Tackling The Election Workload
By law, INEC is mandated to perform a series of functions before, during, and after an election. However, it might seem that these responsibilities have encumbered the Commission’s efficiency as in its attempt to do so much, it ends up with less than favourable performance across the board. How can the commission perform its duties effectively? The Uwais Report suggests an unbundling process.
In its recommendation, the committee suggests the creation of three special commissions to help INEC with some pre and post-election matters: The Political Parties Registration and Regulation Commission, the Electoral Offences Commission, and the Constituency Delimitation Commission. With the first handling party registration, the second monitoring all electoral cases and investigations, and the third dealing with the demarcation and balanced segmentation of electoral districts, INEC’s focus will be targeted at effectively conducting the main elections.
Tackling Corruption
Corruption is, unfortunately, an endemic problem of the Nigerian democratic and electoral process. Several instances of ballot snatching, vote-buying, intimidation, falsification of results, and bribery have been recorded over the years. These issues have been called out by both local and international observers, creating loopholes in the electoral process and depriving the electorate of their mandated right to elect their leaders.
The Uwais Report provides recommendations for corruption-related issues. To reduce government influence and truly make the commission independent, the report suggests putting the power of appointing the Chairman of INEC in the hands of the Judiciary and Legislature. To ensure transparency in the commission’s activity, the report suggests including civil society organizations in the INEC board as a check. To avoid situations surrounding bribery and external influence, a recommendation was made to provide security of term for INEC members to insulate them from external forces.
Preparing for the 2023 general elections, it is important that restructuring and re-organization are prioritized to allow INEC to perform its role in the electoral process without feeling beholden to a political party or caucus. This will go a long way in restoring the confidence of the electorate in the democratic process.
This story is part of our new series on Nigeria where we analyse electoral reform in the country ahead of the next general elections in 2023.
