The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said it was
finalizing a comprehensive proposal for constitutional and legal amendments to
the Electoral Act.
The Chairman of INEC, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu,
was quoted as making the assertion during a retreat organized by the Federal
House of Representatives’ Committee on Electoral and Political Parties Matters
in Abuja.
According to the commission’s bulletin
issued on Wednesday in Abuja, Yakubu said that proposal would be forwarded to
the National Assembly for consideration and legislation in due course.
He said that the proposal for amendment was
part of the commission’s efforts to curb electoral malpractices in the country.
“We are also looking at some of our
guidelines and manual to see what changes are needed in the light of recent
experience,” Yakubu said.
He added that work had also commenced on
the commission’s Strategic Plan for 2017-2021, including the Election Project
Plan and the tracking mechanism.
“This will be concluded by December 2016,
well ahead of the general elections in 2019.”
The INEC Chairman attributed the high cost
of organising elections to required number of personnel to be deployed as well
as issues relating to litigations.
He explained that in Rivers, where a re-run
election was conducted in March, INEC had to deploy 24,000 ad-hoc staff to the
4,444 polling units with 1,319 voting points.
“Eighty percent of the cost (of Rivers
Re-run election) went into the payment of allowances and logistics such as
transportation.
“Each and every case that goes to court,
INEC is joined and we have to hire lawyers.
“From the last general elections to date,
we have been taken to court over 700 times. In fact, in the last one week
alone, we have been dragged to court at least 12 times.”
Yakubu also disclosed that the commission
had conducted 127 elections in the last six months since the 2015 general
elections.
He said INEC had conducted 50 re-run
elections in 16 states in obedience to court orders as well as seven
by-elections, occasioned by death or resignation in five states.
He added that the commission has 31 more
elections to conduct from the 2015 nullified elections, in addition to the
forthcoming end of tenure elections for governorship in Edo and Ondo states.
The chairman, however, reiterated the
Commission’s resolve to conduct transparent, free and fair elections in the
country.
He insisted that the Commission would never
conclude any election for its own sake.
Yakubu said that many of the challenges
slowing INEC down were due to the culture of “do-or-die politics.”
“INEC is determined to conduct credible
elections and conclude them according to the law.
“We will not, we will never conclude any
election for its own sake. All elections must be concluded according to the
law, processes and procedures, no matter what criticism we take.
“This nation has yearned for free, fair and
credible elections and this is our commitment to this country and the process.”
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