The National Assembly is considering amendments to the Electoral Act which will likely include the conduct of all elections in one day.

House of Representatives Speaker Abbas Tajudeen, who gave the assurance yesterday, hinted that Presidential, gubernatorial, national, and state House of Assembly elections might be held on the same day should the bill be passed and assented to by the President.

He spoke when a delegation of the European Union Election Observation follow-up mission to Nigeria’s 2023 general election visited him in Abuja yesterday.

The Barry Andrews-led delegation also visited Headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), where it chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, warned that delay by the lawmakers in amending the Electoral Act 2022 could hamper preparations for the 2027 general election.

The delegation, which has been in the country for about three weeks to study the level of implementation of the recommendations contained in its report after the 2023 general election, also interfaced with the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP).

 

Abbas, in a statement by his Press Secretary, Leke Bayeiwu, told the EU team that its reports on the 2023 polls were being considered in the ongoing electoral and democratic reforms by the National Assembly.

Abbas said: “I want to acknowledge that the leadership of the country under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is committed to ensuring that we improve on our electoral processes, particularly regarding the observations made (by international observers) on the 2023 elections.

“We in the National Assembly have also been busy working to gather as many issues as possible, arising from the last elections, so that we can see how we can legislatively address them; so that our next election will be more transparent, acceptable and in alignment with international standards.”

He told the team that a recent joint Senate and House of Representatives leadership meeting resolved to isolate electoral amendment issues and accelerate their consideration and passage.

He allayed fears about the timeliness of the reforms.

He said: “We agreed that because of some of the amendments that we want to bring forth – (some are by way of Act of Parliament, some are by constitutional amendment) we will fast track and isolate the electoral issues and take them as one, single entity; and push them forward for the National Assembly to deliberate and take a position; and then send them to the sub-nationals (state Houses of Assembly) to also consider within a short timeframe – between now and December.”

Reassuring that the Parliament was “very serious” about electoral reforms, Abbas said the National Assembly was proposing new initiatives, including reserved parliamentary seats for women, reserved parliamentary seats for Persons With Disability (PLWDs), a constitutional role and financial autonomy for traditional rulers, a single-day election, among others.

He explained that it was the thinking of many members of the National Assembly that a single-day election would not only improve efficiency and transparency in electoral conduct but also reduce costs by almost 40 per cent.

He said: “Like the single-day election, it is to hold the election of the president, National Assembly membership, governorship and state House of Assembly membership elections on the same day.

“In our own thinking, it will help to reduce our electoral costs to as much as 40 per cent if we can hold the elections within a day. It will also improve transparency and increase efficiency, particularly on the turnout of voters.”

The Speaker, however, urged the EU to assist the National Assembly in the area of advocacy and publicity, especially at the subnational level.

“One takeaway from this meeting is to take the assurance from me and my colleagues that we will not be late. We will do the needful as far as legislation is concerned to enable INEC to have all the necessary tools and provisions to make the 2027 election much better than the 2023 election,” he said.

Leader of the delegation, Andrews, who earlier wished the Speaker a happy 60th birthday, thanked him for working with the EU on different policies.

Andrews, a European Parliamentary member, expressed the desire of the EU to see Nigeria’s democracy and elections meet international standards.

He told Abbas that part of the recommendations in the 2023 election report required legislative initiatives. He admitted that some had been carried out by the National Assembly.

“We have a good story to tell, frankly,” Andrews said, but expressed concerns about the possibility of an amended Electoral Act being ready for use by INEC to conduct the 2027 polls.

Receiving the EU team, INEC chairman Yakubu charged the National Assembly to quicken the amendment to the current Electoral Act.

He warned that the non-existence of a new legal framework could negatively affect its preparations for the 2027 elections.

“We appeal to the National Assembly for an expeditious consideration of the electoral reform proposal. An early passage of law is critical to our planning for the elections,’’ Yakubu said.

He added: “An Election is a process governed by law. Many of your recommendations require the review of our electoral laws. For this reason, the commission had interfaced with our National Assembly, including holding a retreat with the Joint Committee on Electoral Matters (Senate and House of Representatives).

‘’Uncertainty over the legal framework for the election can unsettle the work of the Commission as the election draws nearer.”

The INEC boss told the delegation that their current visit was the third “ that the present commission is receiving such a mission.’’

He said: ‘’I recall that in 2017, we received Mr Santiago Fisas, who led the EU Election Observation to Nigeria’s 2015 General Election.

‘’Similarly, in 2022, we hosted Maria Arena, who led the EU Election Observation Mission to Nigeria in 2019. Today, we are glad to receive Mr Barry Andrews, who led the EU Mission to the 2023 general election.

“In 2019, the EU EOM made 30 recommendations, out of which 11 were specifically addressed to INEC. Three of them were identified as priority recommendations, while eight were categorised as general.

“By comparison, your 2023 report made 23 recommendations, out of which eight (34.8 per cent) require action by INEC, of which only one recommendation was listed as a priority.

‘’The remaining 15 (65.2 per cent) recommendations, of which five were categorised as priority, require action by other entities in the Executive, Legislature and the Judiciary, as well as political parties and multiple stakeholders such as civil society organisations, the media and professional bodies.

“The commission has carefully considered all eight recommendations specifically addressed to us in your report. Action has been taken on aspects of the recommendations that only require administrative action to implement.

“Similarly, action is being taken on cross-cutting recommendations that require collective action between INEC and other bodies and stakeholders while waiting for the conclusion of the ongoing legal review by the National Assembly on the recommendations that require legislative intervention.

“To this end, the commission has prepared a detailed response on each one of your direct observations, which we shared with you at this meeting. If time permits, we can go over each of the recommendations seriatim.

“I must also add that your recommendations, along with similar reports from other national and international election observers, were the subject of wide-ranging consultations with critical institutions and stakeholders during our own review of the 2023 general election.

“The review report contains 142 recommendations for electoral reform. In addition, the commission published our main 2023 general election report over a year ago. The two reports are available from our website.

“We look forward to the next EU EOM for the 2027 General Election. As you are aware, international Election Observation Missions are deployed on the invitation of the commission. I want to reassure you that we will continue to engage with you.”

“Very soon, the commission will send out invitations to the EU as well as the Commonwealth, the African Union and ECOWAS for the 2027 general election. We believe that the recommendations arising from your observation of our election and electoral process help to improve the quality of our elections and electoral activities.”

The delegation told Yakubu that the EU was pleased with the implementation of some of its recommendations on the 2023 general election by INEC

He insisted that Nigeria must move beyond half-measures.

Andrews pointed out that election observation is not about interference, but strengthening democracy in Nigeria, in Africa, and across the world.

Andrews warned that reforms in the judiciary, administration, and the Constitution remain too slow, with transparency in result publication still unresolved.

The Nation