Jega, the former INEC chair, asks Buhari to sign the Electoral Act Amendment bill to improve the integrity of the 2023 election
By Uzor Odigbo
Former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Attahiru Jega has called on President Muhammadu Buhari and the National Assembly to immediately pass the Electoral Act Amendment Bill 2021.
Jega who stated this during a Townhall Meeting organised by Yiaga Africa on the passage of the Electoral Amendment Bill on Sunday said that the Buhari administration should do everything within its power to ensure that Nigeria goes into the next elections with a new bill, as it would improve the integrity of elections in Nigeria.
Jega, who says signing the Electoral Amendment Bill will be better for the country, added: “This country will be better off if we go into the next election with a new electoral law which will enhance the integrity of the preparations and conduct of the elections.
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“As I have said earlier, since 2010, we have not had significant improvement in the electoral framework.
“Speaking on direct and indirect primaries, some people believe that governors do influence the outcome of indirect primaries and some feel direct primaries is a way out of this, but the question is, how many parties have a credible register of members?
“Give INEC the law to begin preparations for the 2023 elections. Any governor that manipulates direct primaries under this present condition will also have the capacity to manipulate indirect primaries”.
According to Jega, this Elecoral Amendment Bill is the first in the last 12 years, and withholding assent to the bill, over a clause, would, therefore, be detrimental to INEC’s ability to adequately prepare for coming elections.
INEC on its part has said that the continued delay in the assent to the Electoral Act (2010) amendment bill may affect the adoption of the new amendments for the 2023 general elections.
The commission said though it operates based on the existing legal regime, it was important to have the law that would guide the elections in place at least 12 to 18 months before the exercise.
The commission has also released the timetable and schedule of activities for the Ekiti and Osun states governorship elections based on the extant and existing constitutional and electoral legal framework