ABUJA (National Conference Report) – Delegates at the ongoing National Conference in Abuja have recently resolved to have the States Independent Electoral Commission (SIEC) scrapped and its functions transferred to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The delegates during the deliberations observed that the Commission at that level has outlived its usefulness and has become a tool for governors to manipulate elections into local government councils. They also proposed the review of the Electoral Act to further strengthen INEC`s capacity to effectively monitor party conventions.
The report from the Conference Secretariat revealed that a first degree or its equivalent was set as the mandatory academic qualification for candidates seeking elective positions such as the Presidential, Governorship and National Assembly candidates. Adding, the candidates seeking to contest for States Houses of Assembly and Local Government Chairmanship positions were expected to posses a first degree certificate or its equivalent while the Secondary School Leaving Certificate or its equivalent was the minimum academic qualification for candidates seeking election as Local Government Councilors.
“These resolutions were part of the recommendations adopted during the debate and consideration of the report of the Committee on Political Parties and Electoral Matters headed by Iyorchia Ayu and Ken Nnamani (Senators), who are former Senate Presidents of Nigeria. The Conference also accepted a recommendation for the establishment of a Political Parties Regulation and Electoral Offences Commission to be vested with the responsibilities of investigating all electoral frauds and related offences, identifying, tracing and prosecuting political thuggery and other electoral offences as well as monitoring the organization and operations of political parties, including their finances,” the Secretariat report noted.
Accordingly, the Conference resolved that appeals from judgments in pre-election matters to the Court of Appeal or the Supreme Court should be filed within 21 days from the date wherein the judgment of the lower court is delivered. The Conference, after an exhaustive debate also accepted the recommendation that the Evidence Act be amended to shift the burden of proof in election matters to INEC.
Deciding further on election litigation, the Conference agreed that relevant provisions be made in the Electoral Act to ensure that no elected official is sworn-in until all litigations on the elections are concluded. It also agreed that any candidate adjudged by the courts to have been fraudulent in the electoral process should not only be barred from subsequent elections, but be disqualified from vying for any elective office or holding any government position for ten years.
The report averred that delegates in their debates resolved that any person removed from office, based on the decision of the court on fraudulent election, must lose all privileges attached to that office. They added that any candidate who is disqualified by the court for not meeting the required qualification for contesting an election, or in a situation where such a person is elected and the court orders him to vacate the office, the candidate with the second highest number of votes should be declared winner.
‘This recommendation, according to the delegates is to avoid the waste of public funds on repeat elections with regards to the removal of disqualified candidates.’ On the appointment of INEC Chairman, the Conference delegates assented to the recommendation of the Mohammed Uwais (Justice) Report regarding the manner of appointment of the INEC Chairman.
In another development the Conference accepted the Committee’s recommendation that any elected officials, executive or legislative who engages in cross-carpeting, regardless of the reasons for such, shall automatically forfeit his or her seat. ‘This provision, it said shall not relate to cases where political parties merge to become a mega party. In such a case, the Conference agreed that elected officials should have a choice to freely choose any political party they want to belong.
Regarding elected officers whereby the political party platforms on which they have won elections decide to merge with other political parties, they said that they should be allowed to retain their seats. While rejecting a suggestion that a 15 percent slot be reserved for persons living with disabilities, the delegates opted for the reservation of a defined quota for women and people living with disability in party hierarchy. It agreed that accessible polling stations be established for persons with disability and INEC should provide Braille ballot papers for the visually impaired persons.
The recommendation by the Committee that if the candidate whose name was submitted to INEC dies or withdraws from election or is disqualified by the court of competent jurisdiction, the political party which nominated the candidate shall forward to the Commission the name of the aspirant who scored the second highest number of votes at the primaries as the substitute candidate was accepted by the Conference. On election matters, the Conference accepted the recommendation for the introduction of electronic voting system after the 2015 general elections. It approved the recommendation that the Government should make efforts to demilitarize elections; saying a special mandatory provision should be made to compel INEC to electronically transmit results from all the wards upon conclusion of the counting process for election results to be pasted at all ward levels.
The Committee’s recommendation that government houses, cars and other facilities and resources should not be used for the partisan interests of any political party was endorsed by the Conference just as it endorsed another recommendation that it should be made mandatory by law for INEC to limit the number of voters in a polling unit to 500 as well as create as many polling units as the number of registered voters in every constituency.
As part of that, it was also agreed that the criteria for delineation of the units should be clearly spelt out for easy verification so that communities in need of redress and civil society organizations can have verifiable facts to seek redress. The Conference agreed to make it mandatory for all candidates seeking election to the office of President, Vice President, Governor, Deputy Governor or such other office as may be deemed appropriate at every general election to participate or attend political debates which shall be hosted prior to the date of general election.
According to the Conference resolutions in multi-party systems, parties can only contest local government elections, state elections and federal elections should be allowed to exist. Delegates further voted that May 29 should no longer be seen and observed as Democracy Day.
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