Issued in Abuja: 9:00am on Friday, 8th September 2023
The Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room (Situation Room), on Wednesday, 6th September 2023, observed the delivery of the judgment of the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal on the 2023 presidential election.
As a group with significant years of knowledge and experience on elections – both in the field and in the policy space, Situation Room is concerned that the judgment may have raised questions regarding the gains made with the passage of the Electoral Act 2022, particularly reforms that introduce technology in elections and require INEC to issue guidelines for the elections and implement it.
It will be recalled that the 2022 Electoral Act was hailed by stakeholders as a milestone achievement and progressive legislation mostly due to the incorporation of technological innovations in the electoral legal framework. For many, the innovations were expected to promote transparency in the electoral process. Of note are the INEC Results Viewing portal (IReV) and the Bimodal Voter Accreditation system (BVAS), which were described as a game changer that would guarantee transparency and seamless management of elections.
The Electoral Act 2022 provided safeguards indicating the need for INEC to be innovative in developing procedures that will help eliminate the human element regarding conduct of elections. It seems to us that these innovative reforms may now face challenges as the Tribunal has opened the implementation of these reforms to INEC’s human discretionary powers. This is indeed worrying for our electoral system.
While some discretion may be necessary for flexibility in election administration, it is important that there are accountability mechanisms to prevent arbitrariness. Citizens look to the Judiciary to serve as a check on this discretionary power to ensure that administrative decisions are implemented in a transparent manner, and most importantly, in the public interest.
It is also important to add that public funds were appropriated by the National Assembly and invested on these technological innovations, which were developed and publicised by INEC.
Situation Room notes that it is within the rights of the contending political parties to further dispute or accept the judgment issued by the Tribunal on the elections and will be watching developments regarding further actions by the political parties involved.
Situation Room will continue to monitor closely how litigations around the general elections evolves especially at the Supreme Court level and will be pursuing further legislative advocacy that will require INEC to mandatorily implement reforms passed by Nigeria’s Legislature.
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SIGNED:
Y.Z Ya’u
Convener, Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room
Mimidoo Achakpa
Co-Convener, Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room
Franklin Oloniju
Co-Convener, Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room
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The Situation Room is made up of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) working in support of credible and transparent elections in Nigeria numbering more than seventy. The Steering Committee is made up of: Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre (PLAC), CLEEN Foundation, Action Aid Nigeria, Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD), Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), Emma Ezeazu Centre for Good Governance and Accountability (formerly Alliance for Credible Elections, Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre (RULAAC), Kimpact Development Initiative, Democratic Action Group (DAG), Women’s Rights to Education Programme, Joint National Association of Persons with Disability (JONAPWD), New Initiative for Social Development (NISD), Life And Peace Development Organization (LAPDO), Rural Youth Initiative, DIG Foundation, Challenged Parenthood Initiative (CPI), Centre for Health and Development in Africa (CHEDA) and Josemaria Escriva Foundation. Other groups are Centre for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD), Centre LSD, CISLAC, WARD-C, Proactive Gender Initiative (PGI), Enough is Enough Nigeria, WANGONET, JDPC, Yiaga Africa, Development Dynamics, EiE Nigeria, Partners West Africa Nigeria (PWAN), Stakeholder Democracy Network, Human Rights Monitor, Reclaim Naija, Conscience for Human Rights and Conflict Resolution (CHRCR,) Nigerian Women Trust Fund, The Albino Foundation, , Electoral Hub, etc