10th Assembly, Replacement of Elected Representatives without New Elections and Other Agenda for Electoral Reforms
Ahead of the 2027 general election, there are plans to reform the electoral system to create room for inclusion and restore public confidence. Since setting up the Justice Uwais Commission on Electoral Reform, Nigerians have toiled with the idea of comprehensive electoral reform. However, this has remained a dream. Correspondent TONY AKOWE examines efforts by the 10th House of Representatives to reform the system, thenationonlineng.net reported.
The House of Representatives has begun the long process of reforming the nation’s electoral system with several laws in the making, some of which seek to amend the Electoral Act or the constitution. It is no longer news that even the nation’s electoral umpire has advocated some far-reaching reform of the system for effectiveness and to restore trust and confidence of the Nigerian people. Some of the reforms being proposed by INEC include provisions that will allow political parties to replace their elected representative either in the Senate, House of Representatives or the state House of Assembly without necessarily going through another round of election.
The suggestion, which arose from a series of stakeholders’ meetings, is to cut costs and allow political parties to pick from among their members who contested the primaries to replace any legislator who either dies or resigns from their position. The commission has argued that the conduct of by-elections is more expensive than the general election, as one by-election can give rise to several by-elections in the same constituency.
While defending the 2025 budget estimate of the commission before the National Assembly, INEC Chairman, Mahmood Yakubu told the lawmakers that the nation must find a way of dealing with of issues of bye election as a way of reducing the cost of conducting elections on the part of the commission, suggesting that stakeholders should find a way of ensuring that when a legislator dies, his political party be made to nominate his replacement probably by presenting the person that came second during the party primary. Yakubu said in other democracies, like in the United States of America, the governor of the state where such a lawmaker dies nominates a candidate to complete the term.
He said further that while INEC has already conducted nine bye elections, with 12 more to follow (the number has now increased to 16), Ghana has conducted only three bye elections in four years, stressing that these bye elections which are not planned for are a drain the resources of the commission, Drawing attention to what looks like the frustration of the commission in conducting bye elections, he disclosed that in a particular state, the commission had to conduct bye election several times instead of once.
He said, “We went to conduct a senatorial by-election. When we returned from that, we had to go back because a member of the House of Representatives resigned to contest that election. So, we had to go back. When we concluded that election, a state assembly member resigned to contest that seat. We had to go back to conduct another by-election. So, what we did when we had to conduct by-elections in Ebonyi and Yobe states last year was to appeal to the political parties to nominate fresh candidates, and that was what they did. We know there are existing vacancies in the Senate and some members of the House may already be eying those seats.
Another reform being sought by the commission, which appears to have the backing of several Nigerians, including the parliament, is the unbundling of the INEC into three different bodies. These are the Political Party Registration and Regulation Commission, the Electoral Offences Commission, the Tribunal and the electoral body itself. Incidentally, this also has the blessings of several commissions set up in the past by successive governments. The Mohammed Lawal Uwais Electoral Reforms Committee and the 2014 National Conference have made similar recommendations in the past. The idea is to ensure that INEC is relieved of several responsibilities and allowed to concentrate solely on the conduct of elections in the country.
As part of efforts at ensuring the reform of the electoral system in the country, the late President Umaru Musa Yar’adua set up the Electoral Reforms Commission headed by former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Mohammed Lawal Uwais with members drawn from diverse interest groups in the country and recommended wide spread reforms of the nation’s electoral system. One of the major recommendations in similar reports is the unbundling of INEC. The unbundling requires the creation of two different bodies from the current commission. These bodies are the Political Parties Registration and Regulatory Commission and the Electoral Offences Commission and Tribunal.
The Political Party Registration and Regulatory Commission will be saddled with the responsibility to register political parties, monitor the organisation and operation of the political parties, including their finances, monitor political campaigns and provide rules and regulations which will govern the political parties, among others. On the other hand, the Electoral Offences Commission will be saddled with the responsibility of investigation, coordination, enforcement and prosecution of all electoral offences as well as enforcement of the provisions of the Electoral Act, the constitution of registered political parties and any other Acts or enactments.
As part of its work, the commission, according to the Uwais report, is to adopt measures to identify, trace and prosecute political thuggery, electoral fraud, political terrorism and other electoral offences; adoption of measures which include but are not limited to coordination, prevention and regulatory actions; introduction and maintenance of investigative and control techniques towards the prevention of electoral malpractices and fraudulent election, among other.
This recommendation received support from Nigerians. However, no concrete steps have been taken to implement it. The closest step towards its implementation was the bill seeking to establish it. However, no step has been taken towards having a separate political party registration body. While the Senate passed the bill, the House of Representatives failed to pass its version, even though a report of the Committee on Electoral Matters was laid before the House.
Justifying the need to unbundle INEC, the Uwais committee said: “A review shows that the electoral management body has been overburdened with too many responsibilities, which has affected its performance. The historical analysis shows clearly that there is a need to reform aspects of the 1999 Constitution as well as the existing electoral laws, where they are inadequate or insufficient to guarantee the conduct of free, fair, credible and acceptable elections. For INEC to function efficiently, some of the functions currently performed by it (INEC) should be assigned to other agencies.”
As a prelude to that, Babajimi Benson (APC, Lagos) and Marcus Onobun (PDP, Edo) currently have a bill before the House seeking to allow for the establishment of the Political Parties (Registration and Regulation) Commission. Although many Nigerians have alleged that the House wants to take INEC’s power to register political parties, the bill only seeks to put into practice the agitation of many Nigerians that INEC should be allowed to concentrate on administering the nation’s electoral process.
Marcus Onobun (PDP, Edo), who led the debate for the Second Reading, said the call for transparency in the electoral process in Nigeria has continued to dominate public discourse in recent years, adding that this is evidenced by the increasing number of electoral disputes at all levels.
He said: “All stakeholders in the electoral process are in tandem with the fact that no nation can elect credible leaders and experience good governance where the process of electing their leaders is marred by irregularities. People believe that electoral integrity depends on a free, fair, impartial and transparent process for registering political parties and for conducting elections. Many citizens have rightly or wrongly blamed the election umpire in Nigeria, the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC), for election irregularities. Irrespective of the divide one may find himself in, what is indisputable is the fact that our electoral process needs a surgical operation.”
Onobun said: “In a country of over 200 million people, it is suggested that INEC is overwhelmed with the onerous task of registering political parties, regulating political parties, overseeing coalition and mergers, while also conducting the presidential, National Assembly, governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections. Therefore to improve on our electoral process and the management of political parties, we must have a different authority that will be responsible for the registration and regulation of political parties activities, and also to ensure that registered political parties comply with constitutional and other statutory requirements while INEC concentrates on its primary assignment of conducting elections to ensure a more proficient, seamless and transparent democratic process in Nigeria.
He explained that the bill removes the responsibility of registering and regulating political parties from INEC and saddles the same on an independent body or authority, the Office of the Registrar of Political Parties. Clauses 2 to 5 of the bill make provisions for registration of political parties in accordance with the provisions of the bill; the Registrar of Political Parties established under clause 29 of this bill shall oversee the registration of political parties, mergers of political parties; regulation of funding and the use of political parties’ fund.
Second, the bill seeks to establish the Political Parties Disputes Tribunal under clause 35 which shall determine disputes between members of Political Parties, disputes between a member of a Political Party and a Political Party, disputes between Political Parties, disputes between an Independent candidate and a Political Party, disputes between coalition partners and appeals from the decisions of the Registrars under this Bill. Third, the Bill, under clauses 41 and 42, prescribes penalties for offences by political parties and their members and also prescribes punishments for offenders to ensure transparency and accountability in political parties’ administration in Nigeria. The Bill, in clause 47 provides for consequential amendment of sections 75 to 81 of the Electoral Act 2022 thereby removing registration of political parties from the functions of INEC”. He argued that the credibility, health and wellbeing of every democracy are hinged on the effective regulation of the political parties, saying “to ensure a transparent and stable democracy, it cannot be business as usual for political parties and key actors where anything goes”.
A report of the 2014 national conference also recommended the unbundling of the commission to allow for the establishment of Political Parties Regulations and Electoral Offences Commission (PPREOC) with the responsibility to ensure that registered parties not only keep proper records of funds raised, but also provide annual statements to the new Political Parties Regulations and Electoral Offences Commission (PPREOC). The recommendation suggests that the Political Parties Regulations and Electoral Offences Commission should take necessary steps to implement the provisions, to ensure that the parties comply with the stipulations of the law and that campaign financing is properly monitored
The conference said unbundling INEC will allow the commission focus on its core mandate of organizing elections and delineation of constituencies, but said that in doing so, cognizance must be taken of the need to guide against further multiplication of institutions, especially against the backdrop of the legitimate apprehension of Nigerians on the increasing cost of governance in the country. When established, the commission will be solely responsible for the registration and monitoring of political parties, civic education, and accreditation of election monitors.
Also to be created as part of unbundling the commission is the Electoral Offences Commission. The conference said there was a need to create a separate entity with the necessary powers and authority to deal with all issues concerning electoral crimes and offences. Two commissions to be carved out of INEC should be vested with the enforcement and administration of the provisions of the Electoral Act; investigation of all electoral frauds and related offences; coordination, enforcement and prosecution of all electoral offences; and enforcement of the provisions of the Electoral Act.
The commissions are also to be vested with the constitution of registered political parties and any other acts or enactments; adoption of measures to identify, trace and prosecute political thuggery electoral fraud and other electoral offences; facilitation of exchange of scientific and technical information with other democracies on the conduct of joint operations and training geared towards the eradication of electoral malpractice and fraudulent elections; examination and investigation of all reported cases of electoral offences to identify electoral officers and staff of the electoral commission, individuals, corporate bodies or groups involved in the commissioning of electoral offences; collaboration with election observers within and outside Nigeria.
Also, at a review of the conduct of the 2023 general elections, stakeholders which include the political parties, Civil Society Organisations, security agencies and the media recommended that for the effective performance of the nation’s electoral body, stakeholders at the review exercise of the 2023 general election recommended the unbundling of INEC with the creation of the Electoral Offences Commission and the Political Party Registration and Regulation Commission out of the Commission.
They believe that unbundling the Commission will allow it to focus more on the conduct of elections. The stakeholders believed that areas such as registration and regulation of political parties and prosecution of electoral offenders should be left for other agencies. They want the National Assembly to complete work on the Electoral Offences Commission (Establishment) Bill to enhance the prosecution of electoral offenders, considering the enormous responsibilities of election management on INEC.
During the 9th Assembly, the Senate passed the Electoral Offences Commission, but the House of Representatives failed to pass the same bill, even though the House Committee on Electoral Matters concluded work on the bill and submitted a report. When the report came up for consideration, it was returned to the committee due to errors detected in the report. But the report was never returned for consideration before the expiration of the life span of the Assembly. A similar bill sponsored by Bamidele Salam has been scheduled for second reading on two occasions, but he stepped down. It is not certain when the bill will be relisted for second reading.
At the last count, about 20 constitutional amendment bills were pending before the House of Representatives Committee on Constitution review, seeking to reform the electoral system. While some of the provisions appear controversial, some others appear to be what the Nigerian people have been agitating for. For example, Solomon Bob’s bill on the removal of immunity for the Vice President, governors and deputy governors had to be withdrawn from further debate after its initial passage because of the sensitive nature.
There is also the bill that seeks to reform the system to allow for the creation of the Office of the Prime Minister, which will be the head of government, separate from the office of the President, who will be the head of state. This would amount to a return to the parliamentary system of government. They are also seeking to alter the constitution to tamper with the current simple majority for the winner of the presidential and governorship elections.
The amendment or reform sought will ensure that for anybody to be declared the winner of the presidential election, they must score more than half of the total votes cast. Awaji-Inombek Abiante (PDP, Rivers) who sponsored the legislation referenced the last presidential election which he said revealed a major weakness in the electoral process, saying the constitution did not envisage the emergence of a third force, adding that as a result of that, “the country was thrown into a kind of democratic crossroad where for the first time, the winner did not score above 50 per cent of the total votes cast.”
He argued that the “amendment seeks to correct this lacuna in our present system of election where a run off would be conducted to ensure that the winner in the presidential and governorship election score more than half of the total votes cast to ensure a more legitimate outcome of elections, a more popular candidate emerges, majority wish prevails leading to consensus building”.
Other reforms being sought include allowing Nigerians in the diaspora the opportunity to be part of the electoral process by casting their votes during elections in the country, and early voting for those involved in election duties, such as reporters, security agents and inmates in correctional centres.
The commission is also planning to approach the National Assembly to amend the laws to allow Nigerians in the diaspora and other designated categories of eligible Nigerians to cast their votes during elections.
