SEGUN KASALI was part of the just-concluded conference on electoral and justice sector reform, organised by CISLAC. He reports:
Amid knocks from home and abroad for the electoral process and the justice system in Nigeria, advocacy group, Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), held a one-day national seminar in Lagos, with the theme ‘National Seminar on Targeted Electoral Reforms and Enhanced Judicial Integrity in Post-Election Litigation.’
Many notable lawyers, activists, academics, lawmakers, retired judges, electoral officers, among others, presented papers.
Setting the tone for the discussion, Executive Director, CISLAC, Mallam Auwal Ibrahim Musa, in his address, said the essence of the forum was to change the narrative of electoral process and justice system that are being threatened by systemic challenges in the country.
According to him, it is not as if various legal reforms had not been carried out in both the electoral and judiciary systems before now, but the conduct and outcomes of the 2023 general and off-cycle elections have questioned the direction of Nigeria’s democracy, akin to taking one step forward and 10, backward.
He pointed out that in order for Nigeria not to continue to waste investment and energy on elections with some people sitting somewhere to write the results in their favour, all stakeholders, including the civil societies, the media and the generality of the people, must collectively rise up against the trend.
He said “We must all be interested and feel concerned in seeing where the problem is among the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the politicians and the judiciary. We must be able to find out who is responsible for truncating the wills of Nigeria’s people in elections.”
While citing what happened recently in Zamfara, Plateau and particularly in Kano State, where tribunal judges delivered their judgment via Zoom, he argued that such digital ruling had serious political undertone.
He, however, strongly believes that outcome of every election must reflect only the true decisions of the electorate expressed through their votes and nothing more.
Specially-trained judges for poll disputes
In his presentation, Mr Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, SAN, who spoke on ‘Politicisation of election disputes in Nigeria’s courts: Key provision of the Electoral Act, and the challenges of technical interpretation,’ was of the opinion that almost everything about Nigeria is politicised, which will retard progress, if not discontinued.
According to him, it is not only the judiciary that is politicised, the civil society groups, the security, the electoral officers, and other segments of the society are also politicised, a situation that calls for general overhaul of the entire system
He advocated that while genuine reform is required in judiciary, it would be better to limit post-election litigation only to election results and not issues like candidate qualifications, either concerning academic certificates, age or any other matter and judges who would handle election petitions should be specially trained for it.
For him, concerns like those listed above should have been raised and resolved by interested opponents before elections would take place.
He also said it would be better for INEC to be neutral in any election litigation and not be on the side of a particular candidate or political party even as the judiciary in general must likewise be free of inducement, threats, improper influences, restriction of any degree and manner, direct or indirect interference from any persons or groups and on whatever grounds.
According to Adegboruwa, it is equally left for the National Assembly to amend the Electoral Act 2022 to give Nigeria’s people transparent elections as the use of technology is to prevent manipulation of election results.
While urging INEC to help Nigeria by keeping its guidelines and public statements and undertakings, he also urged the National Assembly to set up a special committee to scrutinise the judgment of the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court for the purpose of amending the Electoral Act 2022.
No more dons as poll umpire
On her part, former Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Ondo State, Mrs Olajumoke Anifowoshe, while sharing her experience concerning women in politics observed that it’s extremely difficult for women to rise to the top in the Nigerian political landscape, saying such development is bad in a country claiming to practice democracy.
She, however, called on all stakeholders to be on a path of courage to always speak the truth to power adding that, “Not being able to attain political height without going through a godfather makes Nigerian democratic experience very difficult.”
On his part, the Presidential candidate of African Action Congress (AAC) in the last general election and pro-democracy campaigner, Omoyele Sowore, expressed displeasure at both the electoral process and the judiciary system in the country, arguing that both institutions are really a great threat to democracy in Nigeria.
Sowore canvassed the cessation of university professors as the chairman of INEC, saying that majority of them in the office in the past and those who served as returning officers in recent general election, did not live up to public expectations and the expected integrity of their academic attainment while discharging their electoral roles.
He argued that, after all, Nigeria’s Constitution does not preserve the office for professors, suggesting that what the office needed is somebody with good character and integrity to stand by the truth.
On judiciary, Sowore pointed out that the arm of government had allegedly done a great harm to Nigeria’s democracy over the years, expressing great doubt that anything good can ever come out of the system, particularly in post-election litigation.
He personally felt that it was already late to be talking about judiciary or electoral reforms again in the country as various past reforms, to enhance both institutions, did not yield tangible results.
Focus should be on all
In his own presentation, Professor Jibrin Ibrahim, Senior Fellow, Centre for Democracy and Development, pointed non-punishment of election riggers as a major issue thwarting Nigeria’s electoral process.
He said until election riggers at all levels are made to face consequences of their actions, the will of a few politicians and their supporters will continue to prevail in any election.
Speaking on ‘Reforming Nigeria’s Electoral System for Mandate Protection: Opportunities, Challenges and the Way Forward,’ Ibrahim used elections in smaller countries such as Niger Republic to buttress his opinion, saying in such countries, people’s votes are cast and counted and winners announced and people move on with their lives.
Chairman of INEC, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, who was represented by Professor Mohammed Kuna,an adviser, said it is not only INEC that should be focussed on when it comes to ensuring credible elections at any level, noting that focus should also be on political parties, security agencies and other stakeholders.
He’s of the opinion that “there is no amount of reforms given to the Electoral Law that will work if the people who are impeding the legal process to satisfy themselves against the will of the people are not taken care of.”
Agreeing to this, President of Nigerian Political Science Association (NPSA), Professor Hassan Saliu, observed that Nigerian political parties needed to be worked on for any meaningful electoral reform to be achieved in the country.
He pointed out that it is unnecessary that all parties must have national spread to produce leaders, as such requirement gives room for moneybags to hijack political parties.
Another speaker, Professor Sam Egwu, Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Benue State, whose submission centered on ‘RECs and Challenges of Election Management in Nigeria,’ said “There is a need to oversee the bureaucracy within the INEC because they do not tell the truth sometimes. If you don’t oversee them, they will create problem for you”, admitting that RECs most times face pressure from political parties and must be able to overcome such pressures.
In his own remarks, Dr. Kole Shettima of MacArthur Foundation raised concern that 2027 poll might follow in the bad experience of 2023. He called for an urgent intervention to prevent a repeat.\
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