...seek media partnership to achieve 90% of electoral reforms

By Gabriel Ewepu

ABUJA – AHEAD of the 2027 general elections and the resumption of the National Assembly from recess, Yiaga Africa and the International Press Centre, IPC, Tuesday, demanded provisions in the electoral reforms to include early voting and compulsory electronic transmission of results.

Speaking in the sidelines of a Consultative Roundtable with Key Media Stakeholders on the Citizens’ Memorandum on Electoral Reforms in Abuja, funded by the European Union, EU, the Director, Programmes, Yiaga Africa Yiaga, Cynthia Mbamalu pointed out that a lot of Nigerians who are involved before, during and after the elections do not have the opportunity to exercise their franchise as registered voters as they are posted outside their polling units on election duty.

Mbamalu also said it would enhance transparency, inclusivity and rebuild citizens’ trust in the electoral process including those in the Diaspora should be given the right to vote from any part of the world as part of early voting based on their status as citizens and their huge contributions made to the development of the economy by the remittances they make to support the economy.

According to her, one big issue is lot of Nigerians believe that if it is mandatory and compulsory for electronic transmission of results, that they would trust the outcome; appointment of INEC chairman should be by stakeholders’ engagement, and concluding election cases before swearing in.

Currently Nigeria’s electoral framework does not accommodate early voting, leading to the disenfranchisement of millions of eligible voters, which according to a document presented by Yiaga Africa tagged ‘Early Voting: Prospects, Challenges and Implementation, categories of voters who couldn’t vote during the 2023 elections, over 1.4 million adhoc staff; 310,973 police personnel; 93, 495 military and Department of State Service, DSS, personnel; 51,000 Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, personnel; 41,000 Federal Road Safety Commission personnel; 11, 336 Nigerian Correctional Service personnel; 9, 447 Nigeria Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, personnel; 350 Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC , personnel; and 144, 800 National and Domestic Observers.

Benefits of early voting include: Increased voter turnout; Facilitates participation of all registered voters and marginalized groups; Accommodates unforseen circumstances; Enhances electoral integrity and security; Reduced Election Day congestions and shorter queues; and logistical and security challenges on Election Day.

United States, Australia, Ghana, South Africa, and Namibia conduct early voting, and have recorded huge success in their electoral process.

She said: “We have never had early voting in Nigeria. This is essential for those who work during elections. It would enhance transparency, inclusivity and rebuild citizens’ trust in the process.”

Meanwhile, speaking on the critical role of the media in the electoral reform process she (Mbamalu) said, “We are hoping to set up a cohort of media partners. One, Nigerians listen to the media. They are tuned in to the radio, television, newspaper, and online channels of media platforms, and so one collaboration is that our media partners leverage their platforms to amplify these issues and to provide information, educate people around these issues, and that their discussions are based on these issues.

“The other is that the media partners also join the demand in their electoral reform through the public hearing, that they are also present in making their demands heard on their electoral reform issues. But I think the most important is making this a consistent and constant national issue because the media controls the space.”

Also speaking was the Executive Director, IPC, Lanre Arogundade, commended the role the media had played in the electoral system since the return of democracy in 1999, and expressed optimism that with the strategic position of the media the current calls for electoral reforms could be achieved before 2027, especially issues contained in

“Today, we are talking about the use of technology in our election, at some levels, the use of beavers for accreditation and voting, even the whole idea of transmission of results.

“These are reforms that came about because the media are part of it. Again, we are also looking at some other historic antecedents, like when we were advocating for the Freedom of Information Act.

“The media took it as its own agenda, did a lot of things that made it happen. So we are now trying to bring that kind of tradition to bear on what we are trying to do, that we have the Citizens’ Memorandum’. What are the issues that should be more independent for INEC and the impartiality that should be elevated?

“If we have this partnership between Yiaga Africa, IPC, and the media, we are sure that 90 per cent of these reforms and proposals, would likely be passed by the National Assembly.”

However, he expressed displeasure over a systematic disenfranchisement of journalists during election duties, “And again, this should concern us in the media. Thousands of journalists are accredited at elections, but they do not vote because of the nature of their work.

“As you are talking to me now, in 2027, you might be asked to go and cover elections in Sokoto, and probably you are registered there in Abuja, and we think that technology has made it possible for people to be able to vote everywhere but this is not a very large number. We have security personnel, policemen, and all others even the INEC officials that are used as ad-hoc staff, many of them do not vote.

“So we are asking for early voting so that this group of people will not be disenfranchised. But now all this can only happen if the media now takes this as its own issue and begins to ask questions from members of the National Assembly as to why they would not pass these kinds of reforms.

“We are in the process of rebuilding trust in the electoral processes, because despite the advancements that we have made, the enormous preparations that went to the 2023 elections, there were still one or two areas of challenges, and you could come across young people, for example, who may not be willing to register, talk less of collecting their PVCs. But when these reforms are introduced, it would have a way of encouraging people to want to come to terms with the reality that they need to participate in the electoral process.”

The keynote speaker, Tony Onyima, who delivered a paper titled ‘The role of the Media in Electoral Reforms and Democratic Development: The Citizens’ Memo Perspective’, said Nigeria must live up to its size and reputation by amending the Electoral Act and the constitutional provision while he pointed out that the other issue is the diaspora voting.

“The Nigerians in diaspora cannot be remitting millions of dollars to the country and deny them rights to vote, therefore, there must be early voting.

“Early voting could include also diaspora and people that work on the day of election – the security agencies, journalists. During the 2023 election, over 11,000 journalists were accredited to cover election and they traveled across the country, and none of them voted. So if you make these provisions for early voting, if I’m posted to Sokoto to cover the election, I can vote a few days and move to my places of assignment.

“These are lower-hanging fruits, I think, that the National Assembly can quickly do.They are not controversial.

“Therefore, this workshop is critical to galvanize the power of the media to put pressure on the National Assembly to make necessary amendments”, he said.

He also added that elections ought to unite the country instead of dividing the country.

“We can use the amendment of the Electoral Act to unite this country more than dividing it. So they have the responsibility to do it, and the media itself have the greater responsibility to put pressure on members of the National Assembly to do the needful”, he said.