A coalition of eight civil society organisations (CSOs) has commended the Senate for empowering the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to determine the mode of voting and transmission of election results without recourse to any external consideration.

Yaiga Africa, Centre for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD), Albino Foundation, Nigeria Women’s Trust Fund, Institute for Media and Society, CLEEN Foundation, International Press Centre, and Premium Times Centre for Investigative Journalism (PTCIJ) make up the coalition.

The Senate and the House of Representatives had passed different versions of the bill in July 2021.

The bill seeks to resolve issues tied to the introduction of modern technologies into the electoral process by INEC.

Particularly, the bill seeks to resolve issues that concern accreditation of voters, electronic voting, and electronic transmission of results from polling units.

Section 52, which deals with electronic transmission of results of elections, is a controversial provision in the bill.

In the version previously passed by the Senate, the section was changed from ‘The Commission may transmit results of elections by electronic means where and when practicable’ to ‘The Commission may consider electronic transmission provided the national network coverage is adjudged to be adequate and secure by the Nigerian Communications Commission and approved by the National Assembly’.

The revised Clause 52 passed by the Senate now empowers Nigeria’s electoral umpire to determine the mode of voting and transmission of election results without recourse to the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) or the National Assembly.

The Senate also reviewed its position on Clause 42 by empowering INEC to deploy ‘electronic voting devices’ in addition to other voting devices for the conduct of the elections.

Other revisions included Clause 43 on ‘transfer’ of results by presiding officers, and Clause 87 on adopting direct primaries as the only mode of primary elections.

‘The Senate’s removal of the contentious clause on electronic transmission of election results which will promote more transparency in the collation of election results is a victory for democracy. It confirms and reinforces the value of citizens’ oversight on the electoral process’, the CSOs said in a statement to Development Diaries.

‘More importantly, it will reduce the susceptibility of election results to manipulation and fraud. Political parties and candidates can now present data from electronically transmitted results in court to challenge the outcome of elections’.

The CSOs urged the Conference Committee to, as a matter of urgency, conclude the process of harmonisation of the bill and ensure that ‘the harmonised bill empowers INEC to deploy other technological devices beyond the smart card reader for voter accreditation under Clause 49 in Electoral Bill 2021’.

The CSOs also called on the National Assembly to ensure that the Electoral Act Amendment Bill is transmitted to President Muhammadu Buhari for assent before the end of October 2021.

Photo source: Yiaga Africa