The Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room has called on the National Assembly to adopt the version of the Electoral Act Amendment bill that allows the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to determine the mode of conduct of elections.
Situation Room and the European Union Support to Democratic Governance in Nigeria (EU-SDGN) implementing partners say they expect the National Assembly’s harmonisation committee to yield to the expectations of Nigerians by allowing INEC determine if it could electronically transmit results or otherwise.
In July, the Senate and the House of Representatives passed different versions of the bill, which 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 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’.
However, the House of Representatives retained the former as presented by its committee on electoral matters.
‘INEC has shown by its practice and experience that it has adequate capacity to use technology in elections including in the transmission of results’, Situation Room said in a statement.
‘This experience has been proven during several off-cycle elections in recent years. Indeed, INEC has expanded its use of technology, including using the Z-pad and now, its newest innovation, the Bi-modal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS)’.
It added, ‘We would also like to point out that the version of the bill that stipulates the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) recommendation and National Assembly approval before election results can be transmitted electronically, presents a constitutional breach that may result in long-drawn litigations and uncertainty which could put INEC’s preparations for elections in jeopardy’.
Situation Room recommended that the Senate version of Clause 43, which recognises ‘voting devices’ alongside election materials and the Senate version of Clause 49, which recognises ‘other technological devices’ alongside ‘smart card readers’ for voter accreditation be adopted.
The civil society group also recommended the adoption of the Senate version of Clause 87, which gives political parties the option to adopt either direct or indirect primaries and the Senate version of Clauses 63 and 76 which increase the penalty for a presiding officer who contravenes the Electoral Act, concerning the proper counting of votes and announcement of results.
Photo source: Situation Room
