Hope Rises For Major Reforms As INEC Unveils 2023 General Election Review Report

By Nathaniel Gana

Friday 13th December 2024

Bold efforts to reform Nigeria’s electoral system and consolidate on previous achievements began yesterday in Abuja as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) embarked on implementing the recommendations harvested from the multi-stakeholder review of the 2023 General Election.

The Commission released and uploaded a 524-page report on the election to its official website back in February, on the eve of the first anniversary of the last general election. Several internal and multi-stakeholder review meetings were also organised to assess the polls and suggest ways to improve various aspects. A Review Report was also generated.

The INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, told the Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) at a meeting held at the Commission’s headquarters yesterday that from the internal and external engagements, the Commission identified 142 recommendations dealing with the general state of preparedness, voter management, voter education and public education, political parties and candidate management, electoral operations and logistics management, election officials and personnel, partnership and collaboration, monitoring and supervision, election technology, voting and result management, election security, electoral offences and the electoral legal framework.

Of the 142 recommendations, Prof Yakubu said that 86 require the Commission’s administrative action. In contrast, 48 require action by various stakeholders such as security agencies, mobile network operators, statutory bodies, political parties, transport unions, the media and civil society organisations.

On the legal aspects, he noted that eight recommendations require legislative action by the National Assembly. He assured that the Commission would soon make a presentation to the Joint Committee of the Senate and House of Representatives on Electoral Matters as they continue to deliberate on electoral reform.

Harping on the major highlights of the Commission’s recommendations, Prof Yakubu underscored what he described as the “imperative of legal clarity” regarding the manual transfer versus the electronic transmission of results.

On voter accreditation, he said the Commission believes that with the introduction of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), the use of the Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) as the sole means of identification for voter accreditation on election day should be reviewed.

He said, “those who already have the PVCs can still use them to vote, but going forward, computer-generated slips issued to the voter or even downloaded from the Commission’s website will suffice for voter accreditation. This will not only save cost but also eliminate the issues around collecting PVCs and the diabolical practice of buying up the cards from voters to disenfranchise them.”

According to Prof. Yakubu, the review report also contains recommendations on early/special voting for the millions of Nigerians who currently do not vote on election day because of their roles. This category includes INEC officials, security personnel, ad-hoc staff, observers, and journalists who are deployed outside the places where they registered.

The report also canvassed support for diaspora voting, establishing the electoral offences tribunal, and a separate agency for registering and regulating political parties.

The INEC Chairman continued: “The Commission will step up action on voter access and distribution to Polling Units. As a matter of urgency, the Commission also intends to develop protocols for cleaning up the voters’ register in collaboration with other agencies, such as the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) and the National Population Commission (NPC).

“Other areas of reform include advocacy for affirmative action for greater participation of under-represented groups, more robust voter education and public communication to combat fake news and misinformation. Furthermore, the Commission intends to review the mechanisms for more effective implementation of agreements on logistics with the transport unions and other service providers by consolidating on the recent experience with early deployment and commencement of elections in the recent Ondo State Governorship election.”

The high point of the meeting was the unveiling of the Commission’s comprehensive report on the 2023 General Election and the Review Report. Prof. Yakubu, accompanied by National Commissioners, RECs, and other senior management staff, performed the unveiling.

He urged the RECs, who would play a frontline role in implementing the recommendations, to critically review the report as it forms the foundation for the proposed reforms. “This is a crucial step in refining our electoral process and ensuring the credibility of future elections,” he said.