Electoral Act Amendment Bill Debate Continues

GAVEL

A recent attempt to sanitise the country’s electoral process suffered a setback last week over reported plan by some elements in the National Assemby to remove electronic transmission of results from the Electoral Act amendment Bill due for consideration by the National Assembly this week. Adedayo Akinwale reports

It came as a rude shock, when news filtered in that electronic transmission of results by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has been expunged from the Electoral Act Amendment Bill 2021 billed for consideration by the two chambers of the National Assembly this week. The Section was believed to have been “smuggled” into the Bill as it was never part of the provisions agreed to by the stakeholders and the Senate Committee on INEC during their various engagements.

The Bill, which ordinarily should have been passed last week was not considered at all by the two chambers due to the negative reaction generated by the smuggled section that prohibits electronic transmission of results. The development also forced advocates of electronic transmission of results to protest to the National Assembly against the clandestine move by those against transparent Electoral process in the country.

Section 50 (2) of the Electoral Act Bill, which is presently before the National Assembly makes no provision for INEC to transmit results of any election electronically. It is believed that the electronic transmission of results would go a long way in curbing rigging and manipulation of electoral outcomes.

The Section states: “Voting at an election under this Bill shall be in accordance with the procedure determined by the Commission, which may include electronic voting, provided that the Commission shall not transmit results of elections by electronic means.”

How House Member Reacted

The member representing Donga/Takum/Ussa and Yantu federal constituency of Taraba State in the House of Representatives, Hon. Rimande Shawulu described as worrisome, the strange clauses that were allegedly inserted into the Electoral Act amendment Bill.

The lawmaker, who expressed his concern while featuring on ‘Good Morning Show’ on ARISE News Channel, a broadcast arm of Leaders & Company, parent company of THISDAY newspapers, said members were not aware of the report, because it had not been distributed to them.

Shawulu said: “In this case, we have not received the report of the committee on Electoral matters. They have not been distributed to members of the House, the information we have is the same information that the public has.

“What is published in the social media is what we can refer to and some of the issues raised in the social media are very worrying especially, with regards to the questions of how the result will be transmitted to the collation centres.”

Shawulu recalled that INEC had informed the House and boasted that it had practiced or attempted to experiment in some of the off-season elections and it reported that they were successful. He added that the electoral body believed that such innovation would help clean up the electoral system.

“Unfortunately, what we’ve been hearing in the last 72 hours is very worrying, especially, the fact that an insertion is alleged to have been put into the report that results shall not be transmitted electronically. That is actually worrying. I have read a few posts by members of the committee on INEC on Electoral matters, who said it is an insertion; that they are not aware of such a decision,” Shawulu noted.

The lawmaker revealed that he has seen some members of the committee expressing disappointment over the alleged insertion, stressing that some members have written posts that he has seen and insisted that the decision they took did not include the ban on electronic transmission of results.

He lamented that it was unfortunate that the country was going back on the electoral reforms that have brought the country this far.

“I dare say that if these attacks on democracy continue, you are going to see increased demand for secession, you are going to see increased banditary, you are going to see increased disappointment of people in the political leadership and things that are happening. And you will see people trying to now use self-help to help themselves. I don’t think that this is the legacy President Muhammadu Buhari will want to leave for the people of this country,” he said.

Shawulu stated categorically that the President needs to call his men to order so that the country would have an electoral system that reflects the wishes of the people at the various levels.

He called on Nigerians to rise up and insist that the electoral reforms that were started by the Jonathan administration and the reform that the present leadership of INEC had said it was embarking on are respected.

The lawmaker noted that Nigerians were asked to register their phone numbers to make things work seamlessly, saying, “why would you tell people to register their sim cards and you will not want to use an electronic system for the election, why are we using double standards?”

At plenary last Tuesday, Hon. Ugonna Ozurigbo, who is a member of the House Committee on Electoral Matters raised a point of order under Order 6 rule 2, being a matter of privilege before the House. There have been a lot of comments about the House and what the green chamber has done on the new Electoral Bill that has not been submitted on the floor of the House.

He said: “I don’t know how this speculation going round came about. But my constituents have called my attention to it and citing what has been going around. They have said that the new electoral bill we are working on which has not been submitted to the House, that we carefully amended Section 50(2) and inserted a provision to prohibit INEC from transmitting election results electronically from the polling unit.

“I have been part of the process of this new law and there was never a time that we were involved in such. I don’t think this issue should be swept under the carpet. We should look at it and investigate it and know where this wrong information is coming from. My privilege has been infringed on and I will have something to tell my people if this House will do all it takes to ensure that is addressed.”

From the Speaker’s Stable

Responding, Speaker, House of Representatives, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, said while his privilege was noted, he didn’t want to, or make it a habit to speak to a report that has not been submitted to the House.

According to him, “We have procedures which are time tested. The Committee has been given an assignment, they will do their work and they will present their report to the floor and the House as a whole will vote on that report clause by clause. I will not comment on things we read on the pages of newspapers but because of the cacophony of voices and because you have raised that matter and just to allay fears, let me say that I do not believe there is any alteration.

“Only the authentic report of the Committee, as has always been, will be tabled before the House. Nothing more, nothing less. I have asked the Chairman of the Committee and she is not aware of such and so, it remains in the realm of speculation. We will wait till the Committee submits its report and like I said, that will be done before we close on the 14th.”

Southern House Members Kick

Dissatisfied with Speaker’s response, the House members from the 17 Southern states, described the attempt to tamper with the Electoral Act to remove electronic transmission of results as a malicious and unpatriotic act aimed to emasculate the electoral system, undermine democracy and destabilise the country.

Chairman of the House Southern Caucus, Hon. Victor Nwokolo in a statement said the alleged attempt to remove electronic transmission of results could not be condoned or justified under any guise whatsoever.

It stated: “Furthermore, against the backdrop of our commitment towards free, fair, credible and transparent elections, the members of the House of Representatives from the South also backs our governors in rejecting the moves to outlaw the electronic transmission of election result in the Electoral Act, as well as the confirmation of exclusive jurisdiction in pre-election matters on the Federal High Court.

“The attempt to tamper with the Electoral Act to remove electronic transmission of result is, therefore,a malicious and unpatriotic act aimed to emasculate our electoral system, undermine our democracy and destabilise our dear country, and such cannot be condoned or justified under any guise whatsoever.”

The lawmakers were of the views that electronic transmission of results directly from the polling unit is a firm step towards the elimination of result collation related malpractices, including alteration of figures, mutilation of documents, snatching and diversion of ballot materials on transit to collation centers, among others

PDP N’Assembly Caucus SStrategises

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) caucus in the National Assembly has assured its members that it was already taking very strong and uncompromising steps to ensure that the provision guaranteeing the electronic transmission of results was not tampered with in any form whatsoever.

It frowned at the clandestine moves to manipulate and alter the Electoral Act by removing the electronic transmission results from the law, stressing that it was an attempt to subvert democratic process, institutionalised rigging, bastardise and frustrate genuine efforts towards credible elections in our country.

The Senate Minority Leader, Senator Eyinmaya Abaribe, the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, Hon. Ndudi Elumelu and other members of the caucus, who addressed journalists in Abuja described the plan to tamper with a critical component of transparency and credibility of the electoral process as unpatriotic and mischievous.

The caucus said: “After due consideration and extensive deliberations on political and security situation in the country, the Joint PDP National Assembly unanimously upholds the resolution of the Southern Governors’ Forum (SGF) in vehemently rejecting the clandestine moves to manipulate and alter the Electoral Act to remove the electronic transmission results from the law

“Electronic transmission of results is the only way to eliminate malpractice and manipulations associated with manual collation of results, including alteration, switching and disappearance of election materials while on transit to various collation centers.”