As preparations for the 2023 general elections in Nigeria kick off, a coalition of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) has demanded that citizen recommendation be included in the new Electoral Act from the National Assembly.
In a statement, the CSOs said the Ninth Assembly under the leadership of Ahmad Lawan, Senate President, and Femi Gbajabiamila, Speaker of the House of Representatives, promised Nigerians a new electoral law by the first quarter of 2021. Furthermore, the National Assembly joint committee on INEC and electoral matters had invited citizens to a public hearing in December, where several recommendations were provided. The CSOs called on the lawmakers to include the recommendations made during the public hearing as they meet to deliberate on the new Electoral Act Amendment Bill.
“As the Senate and House of Representatives Joint Committee on INEC and Electoral Matters meet to deliberate on the Electoral Amendment Bill, we call on the Lawmakers to be bold and courageous in bequeathing to Nigerians an enduring new Electoral Act that will stand the test of time. Nigerians have spoken through their memoranda submitted at the public hearing on the proposed electoral amendment bill on December 9, 2020,” the statement read.
Electronic Voting
Making a case for the use of technology in elections, the group said: “We call on the Joint Committee to ensure that the proposal legalizing the electronic accreditation, electronic voting, and electronic transmission of results are adopted. It is important to note that introducing electronic collation and transmission of results in our Electoral Act to complement the manual process will ensure transparency, real-time reportage and build citizen confidence in the election results collation process.”
The CSOs Involved
Some of the groups who signed the petition include Centre for Liberty, Millennials Active Citizenship Advocacy Africa, NESSACTION, Raising New Voices, Ready To Lead Africa, and YIAGA Africa.
Past Attempts
The Eighth National Assembly had, before the 2019 general elections, passed an Electoral Amendment bill and transmitted it to President Muhammadu Buhari for assent. However, Buhari withheld his assent to the bill on the grounds that the proposed law would usurp the constitutional powers of the INEC to decide on election matters and would create some uncertainty about the legislation to govern the process.
This story is part of our new series on Nigeria where we analyse electoral and political reform in the country ahead of the next general elections in 2023.
