Amid the many failings of the Nigerian electoral system and following the conclusion of the off-cycle election in Imo, Kogi, and Bayelsa States, IMOLEAYO OYEDEYI revisits the much-acclaimed report submitted by the 22-member Electoral Reform Panel headed by former Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Muhammad Uwais, and appointed by the administration of former late President Umaru Musa Yaradua, in 2007 to address some of the extant issues afflicting the country’s elections.
AFTER much-heightened tension, violence, and intrigues, the much-acclaimed off-cycle elections were held across Kogi, Imo, and Bayelsa states on Saturday amid heavy security. The three states had experienced varying incidents of pre-election violence and controversy. To prevent an all-out violence during the elections, the Nigeria Police had deployed no fewer than 67,000 policemen, 220 operational vehicles, including water cannons, armoured personnel carriers to the affected states.
While ordering the security deployment, the Inspector General of Police, Olukayode Egbetokun, had “urged all stakeholders in the three states to embrace peace, uphold the sanctity of the rule of law and be law-abiding in their endeavours before, during, and after the elections as the police and other security agencies have been placed on alert to avert any unruly acts capable of disrupting the elections in any of the states.”
But various defiant shades of violence, protests, and brutalisation still rented the air afterward as at least three persons were killed with several others injured in separate attacks and conflicts that plagued the three states a few days before the election.
But while a plethora of reactions has since been trailing the conduct of the poll, especially on the performance of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and whether it put to use some of the lessons learned during the last general election, observers are of the view that the cascade of clashes, killings, rancour and controversy that preceded the election were symptomatic of the age-long malady asphyxiating the Nigerian Electoral system.
In a speech entitled ‘The 2023 general election: Lessons learnt in preparation for Kogi, Bayelsa and Imo states off-cycle governorship elections’, which he delivered at the Abubakar Momoh Memorial Lecture held at the Electoral Institute, Abuja on Monday, a top political expert, Professor Adele Jinadu, had noted that the operational deployment of officials, materials, and logistics for the elections have remained recurrent problematic features diminishing the credibility of the electoral governance.
In the lecture, the professor of Political Science at Babcock University had made a sharp allusion to the comprehensive report put together by former Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Muhammad Uwais, and his 22-member Electoral Reform Panel appointed in 2007 by the administration of former late President Umaru Musa Yaradua to critically examine the entire Nigerian electoral process and formulate reforms needed to holistically address the deep-seated challenges plaguing the electoral system.
Addressing the gathering that day, Professor Jinadu had said: “The Federal Government should address the anti-democratic diabolic politics and its facilitative toxic economic, political and socio-cultural environment that continue to diminish the feasibility of democracy and development in the country.
He said: “The FG should adopt a strategic plan divided into short-to-medium term covering the 2023-2027 electoral cycle, to pursue, among other political reforms, outstanding electoral reforms recommended by the Uwais Electoral Reform Committee.”
But like Jinadu, several other political watchers, including many international observers have over the years made a rallying call on the Nigerian government to implement the cogent recommendations brought forward by the Justice Uwais committee, premising this on the depleting nature election and electioneering have taken in the last two decades, which they said have culminated in the abject loss of confidence of the Nigerian people in the electoral process evidenced by the successive voter apathy that has characterised elections in the country.
It will be recalled that shortly after the 2007 election, which brought him into power, the late President Yar’ Adua on August 28 instituted the Electoral Review Committee to “examine the entire electoral process with a view to ensuring that we raise the quality and standard of our general elections and thereby deepen our democracy”.
Among the notable public figures in the committee are a retired federal Permanent Secretary and former Chief Electoral Officer of the Federation, Alhaji Ahmadu Kurfi; former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Professor Bolaji Akinyemi; former Chief Judge of Anambra State, Honourable Justice Godwin Ononiba; former Inspector General of Police, Alhaji Musliu Smith; former Grand-Khadi of Niger State, Dr Sheikh Ahmed Lemu; former INEC chairman, Professor Attahiru Jega; former Vice Chancellor, University of Benin (UNIBEN), Professor Grace Alele Williams; former president, Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, Mrs Toyin Olakunri; former Director, Centre for Democracy and Development, Professor Jibrin Ibrahim; former chairman, National Electoral Commission (NEC) and former Nigerian Ambassador to Argentina, Professor Okon Uya and a former Military governor of Oyo and Ogun State, Major General Oladayo Popoola (Rtd), among others.
The committee, during the course of the assignment, received and analysed a total of 1466 memoranda from the general public, with expert contributions taken from Botswana, Cameroon, Canada, Cote D’Ivoire, France, Ghana, India, Lesotho, Mexico, Niger Republic, and South Africa.
The committee also held public hearings in two capital cities in each of the six geo-political zones and the Federal Capital Territory during which a total of 907 presentations were made, just as it interacted with former Heads of State and consulted other stakeholders including state governments, political parties, National Independent Electoral Commission, State Independent Electoral Commissions, security agencies, Civil Society Groups, women organisations, and the media.
But despite these huge efforts made 16 years ago, successive governments have failed to implement either a single or the entire part of the report submitted by the committee, while the many plagues of the Nigerian electoral system continue unhindered, much to the detriment of the country’s 23-year-old democratic reign.
It will be recalled that the Justice Uwais committee, in its evaluation of the Nigerian electoral predicaments, noted in the report that the country’s experience with democratic elections since independence has been rather mixed. It argued that: “Although the country has managed to transit from one administration to another, hardly any election conducted in the country has been completely free of charges of irregularities, electoral malpractices, violence and various degrees of disruptions.
It said: “The factors responsible for this state of affairs include, among others, the character of the Nigerian State as the arena for electoral contests; the existence of weak democratic institutions and processes; negative political culture; weak legal/constitutional framework; and lack of independence and capacity of the Election Management Bodies,” which is INEC.
The committee noted that elections do not take place in a political vacuum and that the character of a particular country, its specific material and historical circumstances, as well as the nature of its politics all affect its conduct of elections.
It stressed that: “Nigeria is a plural and diverse country with over 350 linguistic groups. However, the numerical and political preponderance of the three majority groups (Hausa, Yoruba, and Igbo), and the tendency of many minority groups to cluster around the big three have given the country a tripolar structure which, despite significant changes, continues to endure.
According to the committee, “The psychological divide thus woven into the very structure of the Nigerian colonial state permeated the society and remains engrained in the country’s political life. To make matters worse, the regional cleavages also correspond with significant socio-economic inequalities, creating fertile grounds for political entrepreneurs to exploit and turn regional differences and inequalities into political capital. Managing diversity has thus been one of the major challenges of the political administration of the Nigerian state.
“As a consequence, Nigeria has had problems with democratic governance and the conduct of elections since the 1950s. Heated political struggles between regional elites and the emergence of regionally based political parties have been thorny issues. Political division is reflected in the cries of marginalisation, power shift, and “do or die” politics. What some people perceive to be the centralisation of control over key national resources is the main reason for their desperate efforts to win and retain power at whatever cost,” the committee observed.
It pointed out that ‘the practice of democracy requires the establishment and effective functioning of a wide range of democratic institutions within the state and civil society’, which it said ‘include an independent judiciary, a vibrant legislature, law-abiding executive, vibrant political parties, efficient security agencies, public-spirited Civil Society Organisations, and so on. It also requires the entrenchment of the rule of law and respect for the fundamental rights and freedoms of all citizens.
But for Nigeria, the committee sadly noted that many of these institutional prerequisites are weakly developed, posing special challenges to democracy and the conduct of free, fair, and credible elections.
It said: “The principle of checks and balances which is central to the presidential system has been difficult to practice, largely because the executive overshadows the legislature and the judiciary, a legacy of the long period of military rule. By 1999, at the return of civilian rule, Nigeria had been ruled by military regimes for 29 of its first 39 years of independence. The years of military rule impeded the development of democratic institutions and leaders and hampered the emergence of a democratic culture. Corruption and an authoritarian culture resulted in weak political institutions, a decaying infrastructure, a feeble and non-diversified economy, and an impoverished population.”
In sanitising the Nigerian electoral process, the committee, therefore, made a case for a truly independent electoral commission imbued with administrative and financial autonomy, an electoral process that would enable the conduct of elections to meet acceptable international standards, legal processes that would ensure that election disputes are concluded before the inauguration of newly elected officials; and mechanisms to reduce post-election tensions including the possibility of introducing the concept of proportional representation in the constitution of government.
In the area of ensuring a truly independent electoral commission, the committee attributed the perceived lack of independence of INEC to five major factors, which it said include the composition of the commission that did not guarantee non-partisanship and impartiality of its chairman, members, and the Resident Electoral Commissioners (REC).
It said, “The appointment of the chairman and members of the commission by the president deprives them of the autonomy and independence by the president deprives them of the autonomy and independence necessary to function as impartial umpires in the electoral process.”
According to the committee, “The classification of the commission as a federal executive body in section 153 of the 1999 Constitution also brings it under the oversight of the executive arm of government, just as its funding through the same executive renders it vulnerable to manipulation and undue influence by that organ. Also, the absence of effective democratic oversight of the commission, for example by parliamentary committees is another factor.”
The committee therefore recommended that: “In terms of qualifications, the chairman, deputy chairman, and members of INEC should be persons of integrity, non-partisan, possess vast professional/administrative/academic experience, be not less than 50 years of age for chairman and deputy and not less than 40 years for the others; and the chairman and deputy chairman should not be of the same gender.
It said: “The composition of the membership of the commission should be reviewed to ensure that the chairman, deputy chairman, and other members are non-partisan and have not been registered members of any political party during the preceding five years,” even as it stated that the appointment of the chairman, deputy chairman and members of the commission should be transparently handled by the National Judicial Council instead of the executive.
It added that: “Section 153 of the 1999 Constitution which classifies INEC as a federal executive body should be amended, while the funding of the commission shall be first charge on the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation.”
In ensuring that the Nigerian electoral process meets international standards, the committee said the federal government should ratify the African Charter on Democracy, Elections, and Governance.
The charter, Sunday Tribune gathered, was adopted by the Eighth Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of States of the African Union, including Nigeria on January 30, 2007. It mandates member-state to among other things establish and strengthen independent and impartial national electoral bodies responsible for the management of elections, establish and strengthen national mechanisms that redress election-related disputes in a timely manner, ensures fair and equitable access by contesting parties and candidates to state controlled media during elections, ensure that there is a binding code of conduct governing legally recognised political stakeholders, government and other political actors prior, during and after elections.
It also demands that the member-state should ‘create a conducive environment for independent and impartial national monitoring or observation mechanism, the promotion of democracy, the principle of the rule of law and human rights.’
The Uwais committee also recommended that the 2002 OAU/AU Declaration on Principles Governing Democratic Elections in Africa should be made part of the Nigerian Code of Conduct for political parties.
The Declaration had committed the member-state to ‘establish impartial, all-inclusive, competent and accountable national electoral bodies staffed by qualified personnel, as well as competent legal entities including effective constitutional courts to arbitrate in the event of disputes arising from the conduct of elections.
It also urges the member-state to ‘safeguard the human and civil liberties of all citizens including the freedom of movement, assembly, association, expression, and campaigning as well as access to the media on the part of all stakeholders, during electoral processes.
As part of the Declaration, every member-state is also expected to ‘promote civic and voters’ education on the democratic principles and values in close cooperation with the civil society groups and other relevant stakeholders as well as take all necessary measures and precautions to prevent the perpetration of fraud, rigging or any other illegal practices throughout the whole electoral process, in order to maintain peace and security.
Meanwhile, considering the fact that the last six general elections held in the country (2003, 2007, 2011, 2015, 2019, and 2023 elections) have been marked by severe irregularities which was reflected in the 5,155 petitions filed by candidates and political parties challenging the credibility and results of the elections, the Uwais committee also made certain observations and recommendations as regards settling election disputes without having damaging implications on governance.
The committee observed that over the years, one of the major problems the country has grappled with in the handling of electoral disputes has to do with the discrepancy between the ineffectiveness, violence, and fraud observed by members of the public on election days on one hand and the judgment of the Election Petition Tribunals that people see as validation of fraudulent elections on the other.
The committee said the country has witnessed huge delays in the conclusion of election petitions, allegations of corrupt inducement of tribunal members, undue emphasis on technicalities instead of substantive matters resulting in judgments that do not satisfy public expectation, and the use of state resources by persons declared winners (respondents) after gubernatorial and presidential elections to prosecute their cases while petitioners depend on their own resources.
It noted that while the number of election tribunals has seemed inadequate resulting in heavy caseload, there have been contradictory judgments by the same panels on similar cases and by different panels on similar cases, just as it observed that the period for determination of election disputes had been too lengthy; while there is often huge difficulty in obtaining election documents by petitioners.
It therefore recommended that: “There is a need to produce rules and procedures that enhance speedy disposal of election petitions.
It said ‘the law should also shift the burden of proof from the petitioners to INEC to show that disputed elections were indeed free and fair and complied with the provisions of the Electoral Act.’
The committee added that: “Rules of evidence should be formulated to achieve substantive justice rather than mere observance of technicalities, while elections to the office of president and governors should be held at least six months before the expiration of their terms. A maximum of four months should be devoted to hearing petitions by the tribunals and another two months for hearing appeals by the Court of Appeal or Supreme Court. No executive should be sworn in before the conclusion of the cases against him/her. In the case of legislators, no one should be sworn in before the determination of the case against him/her.”
In all the cases, the committee said INEC should have no right of appeal.
But despite receiving several calls over the years, observers say that successive governments in the country have failed to implement the report submitted by the Uwais committee perhaps on the belief that, if implemented, it will cut off most of the over-bearing powers the executive arm led by the president wield on other arms of government.
Investigations by Sunday Tribune showed that at the centre of the rejection is the issue of power to appoint the INEC chairman and other state officials. It will be recalled that in March 2010, former President Goodluck Jonathan forwarded an unedited version of the report to the National Assembly for approval, by implication saying that the recommendations should be implemented in their entirety before the 2011 national elections.
But before Jonathan had resubmitted the report, the Senate Committee on the Review of the Constitution had rejected the recommendation to transfer this power to the judiciary. The deputy chief whip of the Senate, Mohammed Mana, then had argued that letting the judiciary appoint the INEC chairman violated the principle of separation of powers since the judiciary was responsible for hearing the cases arising from elections.
But observers have been quick to dismiss this position, arguing that the refusal of the government to implement the report is simply indicative of the age-long desperation of the Nigerian political class to perpetuate themselves in power and exert so much political influence on the system and the people for political exploitation and self-aggrandisement.
The new administration of President Bola Tinubu still has more than three years to spend in office and whether it will make a bold move to implement the Uwais report ahead of the 2027 general election, unlike its predecessor, is another question whose answer obviously lies in the belly of time.
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