A BILL to take Nigeria back to the practice of electing all officials on the same day has passed the second reading at the House of Representatives. This means it has been adopted for full debate for possible approval by the lawmakers before being presented to the president for possible assent into law.

Since the return of democratic rule in 1999, Nigeria has run its general elections on the template of separating (or staggering) federal elections from those for the states which are usually held two weeks later. The main reason for this practice is to reduce the sheer load of work that electoral officers and other stakeholders involved in election management have to endure to ensure the successful completion of the exercise.

Same-day elections will mean holding the Presidential, National Assembly, Governorship and House of Assembly elections on the same day. It is believed that staggered elections have the potential for creating bandwagon effects or giving knock-on advantages to political parties that won the first elections.

The new bill for the amendment of the principal Electoral Bill and some parts of its amended versions, also seeks to override a court’s decision affirming the power of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to decide the mode of transmission of an election result despite extant provisions mandating the electronic transmission of results. It seeks to remove this unconscionable discretion which the INEC used with regard to the transmission of the presidential election held on February 25, 2023, and which marred the poll’s credibility.

The sponsor of the bill, Francis Waive (Ughelli/Ughelli South/Udu Federal Constituency), also argues that holding all elections on the same day will help reduce the huge sum of money we spend on INEC to conduct elections.

Every approach – staggered or consolidated – has its advantages and disadvantages. There is no proof that any of them is inherently better than the other, particularly in terms of producing free, fair and credible election outcomes. It is still the same politicians and their hirelings – the bad eggs in the electoral umpire, hoodlums, compromised security officials and crooked judicial officers that will still handle the exercise.

What we need most urgently right now is to explore ways of restoring the faith of our people in the ballot box after last year’s controversial polls. How do we reassure people that the next elections will be credible?

We call once again on the lawmakers to focus attention on ensuring a massive electoral reform that will remove the INEC from the control of the President. No player in a football match should be allowed to appoint and fund the referees. Secondly, electronic transmission of result must be mandatory.

Same-day election alone will not make much difference.