Politics
By Anthony Isibor.
AS the lawmakers are putting finishing touches on the “National Electoral Offences Commission and For Related Matters, 2022” bill, Realnews takes a quick look at the bill, which has passed second reading at the National Assembly.
The consolidated Electoral Offense Act, which was jointly sponsored by Alhassan Ado-Doguwa, Majority Leader, (on behalf of the Senate) Chairman, House Committee on Electoral Matters, Aishatu Dukku, John Dyeh, Francis Uduyok and Kingsley Chinda, is part of efforts to reform the Nigerian Electoral Act.
It has become even more important to establish an independent body to be solely responsible for the quick dispensation of justice on issues concerning electoral offences ahead of the 2023 general elections.
The consolidated bill, which was sighted by Realnews on Thursday, August 18, 2022 revealed that enormous responsibilities and powers have been granted to the commission, including the powers to take over/or suspend a case already in the court of law.
To allow for efficient and independent administration, the Commission shall also have established offices in all the States of the Federation with its headquarters located in the Federal Capital Territory.
Some other functions of the commission will include the powers to:
Investigate all electoral offences, and prosecute offenders in all offences created in any law relating to elections in Nigeria, subject to the provisions of clause 174 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) (on the power of the Attorneys-General of the Federation respectively to institute, continue, takeover or discontinue criminal proceedings against any person in any court of law).
Liaise with the Attorney-General of the Federation and electoral bodies in the Federation and government security and law enforcement bodies and agencies, and other bodies within or outside Nigeria involved in the investigation or prosecution of electoral offences in the discharge of its duties under this bill.
Facilitate rapid exchange of scientific and technical matters and conduct of joint operation to adopt measures to prevent, minimize and eradicate the commission of electoral offences throughout the Federation.
As well as maintaining a liaison with the Independent National Electoral Commission, the Electoral offences Tribunals, the Attorney Generals of the states and the federation Functions of the Commission and such other institutions involved in the conduct of, or activities ancillary, incidental or arising from the conduct of elections.
The bill also seeks to give the Commission power to:
(a) Investigate, arrest and prosecute any person, corporate body or organization –
(i) Alleged to have committed an offence under this Bill, the Electoral Act 2022 or any other law relating to elections in the Federation or a part thereof.
(ii) Alleged to have corruptly perverted or undermined the course of electoral justice.
(b) Adopt measures to prevent, minimize and eradicate the commission of electoral offences throughout the Federation.
(c) The seizure of any property (moveable or immoveable) that is used or suspected to be used in the Commission of an electoral offence, among others.
The Nation Assembly also seeks to make the commission a corporate entity with perpetual succession, a common seal that may sue and be sued in its corporate name and may, for the purpose of its functions, acquire, hold or dispose of property (whether moveable or immoveable).
Members of the Commission
The Commission shall consist of the following members who shall not be registered members of any political party –
(a) A Chairman, who must have held an office as a judge of a Superior Court of Record of the Federal Republic of Nigeria not below the rank of a retired Justice of the Court of Appeal.
(b) A Secretary, who shall be the Commission’s head of administration and shall be equivalent of a permanent secretary in the civil service with not less than 15 years cognitive experience in law.
(c) A representative each of the following Federal Ministries – Justice, Interior, Defence, Information, the Inspector-General of Police or his representative, the Chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission or his representative, the Chairman, National Human Rights Commission or his representative, the Commandant General, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps or his representative, the Director General Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit or his representative, the Director-General Legal Aid Council of Nigeria or his representative; and Six Nigerians, with cognate experience in any of the following, that is law, security, electoral management, engineering and information technology, one representing each geo-political zone of the country; at least two of whom shall be women.
The bill also states that the Chairman and members of the Commission other than the ex-officio members mentioned in Clause 2(1) (c) – (i) shall be appointed by the President, subject to nomination by the National Judicial Council and confirmed by the Senate.
Tenure of office:
(1) The Chairman and members of the Commission other than the ex officio members mentioned in Clause 2(1)(c) – (i) shall hold office for a period of five (5) years and may be reappointed for a further term of five (5) years and no more.
(2) A member of the Commission may be removed from office by the President acting on an address supported by two-third (2/3) of the Senate praying that he be so removed for inability to discharge the functions of his office (whether arising from infirmity of mind or body or any other cause) or for misconduct; or if it is not in the interest of the public that the member should continue in office.
The bill is hoped will help solve the challenges of delayed legal electoral judgments.
According to Mohammed Monguno, Majority Whip, the bill is very relevant and germane to the dream or quest for Nigeria to attain a truly democratic status in the comity of nations, especially against the backdrop of the clamour to deliver an election that is transparent, fair and accountable to the yearnings and aspirations of the people of this country.
“As a legislature that is responsive and responsible for the yearnings and aspirations of the people that gave us the sacred mandate to represent them, it behoves us as per Section 4 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), that gave us the power to make laws for the peace, order and good governance of the country, to enact the Electoral Act to make it ‘octotonous;’ that means to make it (to be) in consonance with the yearnings and aspirations of the people.
“To have an Electoral Act that delivers a transparent and credible election is sine qua non to the attainment of true democracy and it is an instrument of getting a leadership, both at Executive and the Legislative levels, that can truly answer their name as representatives of the people that can be held accountable, responsible and responsive to the mandate that they are given to serve.
“You cannot give what you don’t have. So, against this backdrop, there is the need for us to enact or reform our electoral system through the Electoral Act and give Nigerians a system that is going to throw up leaders that are accountable and responsive to the yearnings and aspirations of the people, and give elections that are truly credible and transparent to the Nigerian public. It was against this backdrop that this bill was initiated to capture the yearnings and aspirations of Nigerians.
Similarly, Aishatu Dukku, noted that electoral crimes lead to low quality, corrupt and violent political leadership. She added that the situation helps election riggers and offenders take control of the government against the democratic will of the electorate. She stated that a decisive deterrent through efficient criminal prosecution is the most effective strategy for defeating electoral offenders.
“INEC clearly does not have the needed human capacity to prosecute electoral offences committed across Nigeria’s 119,973 polling units, 8809 wards, 360 federal constituencies, 109 senatorial districts and 774 local government areas. By these statistics, it is unrealistic to expect INEC to conduct free, fair and credible elections, and simultaneously prosecute offences arising from the same elections.
“Indeed, INEC itself has admitted that it lacks the wherewithal to cleanse the system. Its failure to prosecute even 1 per cent of the 870,000 alleged electoral offences in the 2011 elections is an affirmation of the necessity of a paradigm shift in how we deal with electoral offences. And the inability to prosecute electoral offenders has helped to sustain a reign of systemic election rigging, election violence which deters the participation of especially the women from participating in elections and it also leads to voter registration manipulation, vote-buying, disinformation, declaration of false election results, destruction or invalidation of valid ballots, tampering with election systems and voter impersonation.
“These fuel the patriotic call for INEC to be divested of that statutory duty. It is widely agreed that this duty is an undue burden on INEC. It distracts INEC from its core constitutional mandate of conducting a free and fair election. Some human rights activists have even argued that under our criminal jurisprudence, it is unsound for INEC to double as the complainant and prosecutor in matters of alleged electoral offences,” she added.
A.I
Tags: Aishatu Dukku Alhassan Ado-Doguwa Francis Uduyok INEC John Dyeh Kingsley Chinda Mohammed Monguno
