By FEMI FALANA

Matters arising from Uwais Electoral Reform Panel In order to put an end to the disgraceful conduct of elections and the political culture of violence and manipulation of election results, the President proceeded to set up the Mohammed Uwais Electoral Reform Panel. The 22-member Panel collated the views of the Nigerian people and made profound recommendations which were submitted to the federal government.

The highlights of the Uwais Electoral Reform Panel include the procedure for transparent appointment and removal of chairman and members of INEC, unbundling of INEC, independent funding for INEC, proportional representation, independent candidates, fixing of dates of elections, composition of election tribunals, time for determination of election petitions, and shifting of onus of proof in election petitions.

Apart from the rejection of the appointment of the INEC board by advertisement, the Yar’Adua administration accepted most of the other recommendations of the Uwais Panel. As he could not implement them before his demise in May 2010, his successor, former President Goodluck Jonathan, adopted some recommendations and forwarded the entire report to the National Assembly for consideration. No doubt, the 2010 Electoral Act and the amendment of some provisions of the Constitution in 2011 were influenced by the report of the Uwais Panel, but the principal recommendations were jettisoned.

It is pertinent to note that the Ahmed Lemu Panel, set up by the Goodluck Jonathan administration to investigate the violence that occurred in 12 states in the North and Akwa Ibom in the south after the announcement of the results of the presidential election in April 2011, made a strong case for the implementation of the far-reaching recommendations of the Uwais Panel. The ACN and CPC which later merged and became the All Progressive Congress, APC, campaigned vigorously for the implementation of the recommendations of the Panel. As National Leader of the APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu set up a body called the Coalition of Democrats for Electoral Reforms which campaigned for the adoption of the electoral reforms recommended by the Uwais Panel.

However, the report of the Uwais Panel was revisited when Professor Attahiru Jega became the Chairman of INEC in 2010. As a former member of the Panel, Jega made a strong case for the recommendations of the Panel. Specifically, he ensured the implementation of the recommendations on independent funding for INEC, appointment of dates for elections by INEC, fixing of 180 days for determination of election petitions, establishment of the Centre for Democratic Studies and delineation of constituencies.

Electoral Reforms by Buhari administration

In 2016, the Muhammadu Buhari administration instituted an Electoral Reforms Panel headed by a former Senate President, Mr. Ken Nnamani. The panel was tasked “to review the electoral environment, laws and experiences from recent elections conducted in Nigeria and make recommendations to strengthen and achieve the conduct of free and fair elections in Nigeria.” At the end of its assignment the panel recommended the unbundling of INEC, participation of independent candidates, diaspora voting and the use of technology for elections.

Aside the introduction of partial technology, the Electoral Bill signed into law by President Buhari in 2022 did not adopt other recommendations of the Ken Nnamani Panel. In fact, certain provisions of the law are designed to frustrate the conduct of credible elections in the country. For instance, section 31 of the Electoral Bill 2010 that permitted members of the public to challenge any false information contained in the nomination forms submitted by candidates contesting elections was removed in the 2022 Electoral Act. In the same vein, section 285 of the Constitution was amended to limit the power to challenge disqualification of candidates to members of political parties.

The jurisdiction to hear pre-election cases has been conferred on the Federal High Courts alone. While exclusion of names of candidates and political parties from the ballot by INEC can no longer be a basis to nullify elections that have been conducted, the law has failed to provide any remedy for such exclusion. In spite for the popular call for the establishment of an electoral offences commission to deal with the menace of rigging, manipulation of election results and violence, the law has empowered INEC to prosecute electoral offenders.

The Way Forward

Between 2008 and 2016, Nigeria set up three electoral panels for the sole purpose of reforming the electoral system. But the fundamental recommendations of the panels have been ignored by successive administrations. In view of the fact that Nigeria has repeatedly failed to deliver credible elections, there has arisen the urgent need to overhaul the electoral process to make it more democratic, accountable and acceptable. The objective cannot be achieved without the adoption of full technology in the electoral system, appointment of independent electoral authorities and substantial reduction of involvement of judges in the determination of outcome of elections.

In addition, the implementation of the remaining recommendations of the Uwais Electoral Reform Panel has become a desideratum. Therefore, we suggest that the said recommendations be incorporated with necessary modifications in the proposed amendment of the Electoral Act 2022 and the 1999 Constitution. While the National Assembly has rightly rejected the call for independent candidates, we invite the Nigerian people to consider the following recommendations:

Procedure for appointment and removal of chairman and members of INEC

In order to ensure the independence and neutrality of INEC, the Uwais Panel had recommended that members of the commission should not be appointed by the President. The National Judicial Council, NJC, is tasked with the duty to: advertise the positions, spelling out requisite qualifications, receive applications/nominations from the general public, shortlist three persons for each position and send the nominations to the National Council of State to select one for each position and forward same to the Senate for confirmation.

The Chairman and members of the INEC commission may only be removed by the Senate on the recommendations of the National Judicial Council, NJC, by two-third majority of the Senate which shall include at least 10 members of the minority parties. It is suggested that the same procedure be adopted in the appointment and removal of resident electoral commissioners and members of state independent electoral commissions.

Unbundling of INEC

In order to allow INEC to fully concentrate in conducting general elections, the Uwais panel recommended the unbundling of the INEC into Political Parties Registration and Regulation Commission, Electoral Offenses Commission, Constituency Delineation Commission, and Centre for Democratic Studies. The Centre for Democratic Studies was established by the Independent National Electoral Commission under the Chairmanship of Professor Attahiru Jega.

To be concluded…  

*Being the paper presented by Femi Falana SAN at the Retreat of the Joint Committee on Electoral Matters supported by Policy & Legal Advocacy Centre held at Lagos