Professor Attahiru Jega, the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has requested additional powers for INEC in a submission he made on behalf of the body to the National Assembly’s Constitutional Review Committee. That submission contains 19 proposals. Among the powers sought by the commission is the power to disqualify candidates or political parties from participating in an election. In the submission, INEC argues that its function has both management and regulatory dimensions and that as a regulatory agency, it should have powers to disqualify a candidate or disqualify a party from participating in an election.

In the proposed amendments to sections of the Constitution and Electoral Act, INEC could disqualify a candidate who, evidently, does not satisfy the requirements for the position he or she is vying for. It would also be able to disqualify parties with flawed and undemocratic primaries from fielding candidates for any election. The latter power is a corollary to the request that section 87(9) be amended to make it mandatory for all candidates to emerge through a free and fair political process. Comparing itself to such regulatory agencies as the Central Bank of Nigeria and the National Agency for Food Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), the commission is seeking an amendment to section 31 of the Electoral Act. Furthermore, it argued that although the clamour for the registration of more political parties had continued to gain momentum, it is practically impossible for all registered political parties in Nigeria to be on the ballot.

For these reasons INEC seeks the power, in consultation with political parties, to determine the criteria by which political parties get on the ballot, a process it states is consistent with best practices in many parts of the world.

INEC also asks for a constitutional guarantee of its independence beyond what it currently enjoys. It has asked that, like the National Population Commission, its independence should be constitutionally guaranteed in all its operations and in its management and control of the electoral process. It argues that this independence will enable the Commission to determine the procedure for the conduct of election in such a way that no political party would have undue advantage over others.

Other proposals by INEC include the establishment of an Electoral Offences Commission (EOC) and Electoral Offences Tribunal (EOT). The electoral offences commission will be responsible for investigation and prosecution of breaches of electoral laws. The electoral tribunals are to help guarantee timely prosecution of electoral offenders. INEC wants Sections 76(2) and 116(2) of the Constitution to be further amended to allow for only two periods in a year within which it can conduct elections to fill vacancies so as to engender certainty in the electoral time table.

It requested that any person convicted of an electoral offence (including registration offences, campaign finances breaches and breach of political party finance provisions) should be disqualified for a period of 10 years from the date of conviction from contesting any election or holding any party position. Importantly too, it calls for an amendment to the constitution so that interested Nigerian citizens who are of age but resident abroad can participate in the governance of their country by being allowed to register and vote at elections.

In general, INEC’s proposals seem to have been informed by a number of goals. The first is the need to ensure that the electoral administration is reformed to ensure improved and effective performance. This involves the streamlining of the election time table, the reduction in the logistical challenges of elections and de-concentration of the electoral administration in INEC. The second is to make INEC more impartial and the electoral process fairer by granting greater independence to INEC. The third is to make election more meaningful and simple to the electorate and more competitive by reducing the number of parties that appear in the ballot. Lastly, INEC seeks an electoral process that would be effective in apprehending and speedily prosecuting electoral offenders as a deterrence to riggers and ultimately increasing the credibility of the elections.

Of all the powers requested by INEC, the request for power to disqualify candidates and political parties from participating in the polls has attracted severe criticism and require deep reflection before a decision is taken by the constitution review committee. In this regard, we observe that these powers were conferred on INEC in the past by the Electoral Act, but the powers were misused during Olusegun Obasanjo regime when INEC acted abused the power. In the Atiku Abubakar case, the Supreme Court ruled that only courts can disqualify a candidate. What this amendment is seeking is a reversal of the Supreme Court’s decision. Besides, there is no guarantee that INEC, with adequate independence, will not be impartial in the use of such powers as it had done before. In the event of such partisan use of the powers, the gains so far made in ensuring its impartiality will be lost. Indeed, the recent exercise of its power to deregister political parties has made the opposition to be up in arms. Some of them have gone to court to challenge the constitutionality of its action in deregistering 28 political parties.

Perhaps the regulatory function of INEC should be left to the electoral offences commission and a Political Parties Commission suggested by the Justice Uwais Electoral Reform Committee.

INEC already has so much on its plate as the manager of the presidential, national assembly, governorship and state house of assembly elections. The share logistics problems of elections, its role in voter education are sufficient for INEC. In the recent elections in Edo and Ondo, with all the Commission’s resources deployed, there were still problems recorded in the areas of early arrival of voting materials and the security challenges that reared their heads even with police and army mobilised from all over the country. INEC should be preoccupied with overcoming the challenges of conducting country-wide elections. It should focus and work assiduously towards improving on its record in this regard. It is after these problems have been adequately tackled that the Commission can ask for more responsibilities.
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