What Nigerians stand to miss in the 2018 Electoral Amendment Bill

By refusing to sign the Electoral Act Amendment Bill 2018 into
law, President Muhammadu Buhari may have shut the door on the
series of amendments contained in the bill, which has been
presented to the president on four different occasions this
year.

The bill, which was passed by the National Assembly, was
presented to the President in March, June, July and November
2018.

It was the first time the National Assembly would rework a bill
four times in a single tenure.

Details contained in the book showed that the lawmakers, through
the amendments, had attempted to cure some of the ills associated
with elections in the country.

For instance, the lawmakers dealt with the issue of card readers
by making it mandatory. They also resolved the confusion in the
case of the death of a candidate midway into an election.

One other key aspect of the bill is the resolve to prescribe
punishments for any official of the electoral commission who
commits an error of omission.

The bill also enables the Independent National Electoral
Commission (INEC) to display identities and logo of political
parties before elections. Any political party, which fails to make
corrections during the display period, would have lost the chance
of redress after the election.

Besides, the bill also seeks to regulate financial commitments
of individuals and groups to elections.

The offerings of the Electoral Amendment Bill include the
mandatory use of card readers and allowance given to party agents
and citizens to electronically record electoral proceedings at a
polling station. It also provides for real time transmission of
accredited figures at polling stations.

It provides penalties, including jail terms and fines, for INEC
officials who are found guilty of omitting party logos from the
ballot papers.

However, President Buhari had, at different times, picked holes
in each copy of the Electoral Amendment Bill sent to him since the
first half of the year.

He had at one time objected to the order of elections contained
in section 25(1) of the bill. He also raised “drafting errors” as
reasons for turning down the third amendment. He did not raise any
issues on the amendment forwarded to him in June, while only
allowing that bill to run out its 39-day course.

On Friday, the president rejected the fourth Electoral Amendment
Bill, indicating that the passage of the bill had gone deep into
the 2019 electoral process.

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