Ten game-changing provisions in new electoral law

New electoral law gives INEC the legal backing to electronically transmit election results. This is the game-changer for many

By Ishaya Ibrahim, News Editor

The most popular provision in the new electoral law which President Muhammadu Buhari signed today is the electronic transmission of results. But that is not the only provision that has the capacity to strengthen Nigeria’s electoral process. There are many others.

But transmitting results of elections electronically eliminates the fraud that takes place at collation centres where results declared at polling units get changed along the line.

INEC now uses Bimodal Voters Accreditation System (BVAS) to accredit voters and transmit the results of elections even before the new electoral law was signed today.

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INEC had consistently said that the deployment of BVAS was the way to go in checking election rigging which takes many forms in Nigeria – ballot box snatching, stuffing them with ballot papers, writing election results, causing chaos during voting or altogether disrupting collation of results.  And that is not even the worst.

Obo Effanga, INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner once recounted to TheNiche, how in the 2019 elections, thugs who failed to gain access into a ward collation centre in Rivers State, hauled dynamite into the venue.  Everyone scampered for safety, leaving the thugs to have their way.

Effanga then suggested that in the new electoral law, electronic transmission of results was the only way to reduce the incidence of rigging and violence since it limits human contact with the tally.

Buhari dragged his foot for a long time but finally signed the new electoral law.

Here are some of the provisions in the new electoral law that can change the way elections in Nigeria are conducted.

1. Clause 29(1) stipulates that parties must conduct primaries and submit their list of candidates at least 180 days before the general elections.
2. Clause 65 states that INEC can review results declared under duress.
3. Clause 3(3) states that funds for general elections must be released at least one year before the election.
4. Clause 51 says that the total number of accredited voters will become a factor in determining over-voting at election tribunals.
5. Clause 54(2) makes provisions for people with disabilities and special needs.
6. Clause 47 gives legislative backing for smart card readers and any other voter accreditation technology that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) deploys.
7. Clause 34 gives political parties power to conduct a primary election to replace a candidate who died during an election.
8. Clause 50 gives INEC the legal backing for electronic transmission of election results.
9. Clause 94 allows for early commencement of the campaign season. By this provision, the campaign season will now start 150 days to the election day and end 24 hours before the election.
10. Clause 84 stipulates that anyone holding a political office  – ministers, commissioners, special advisers and others – must relinquish the position before they can be eligible to participate in the electoral process either as a candidate or as a delegate.