President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday, 25th February, signed the Electoral Bill 2022 into law. This is a significant achievement for the country’s electoral system. The Electoral Act 2022 is a product of election reform advocates who for several years have advocated for a replacement law for the 2010 Electoral Act. The previous law had become anachronistic, failing to provide legal support for recent innovations in the electoral system, including use of technology. Attempts to amend the Electoral law since the end of the 2015 general elections when Muhammadu Buhari defeated incumbent President Jonathan, have been elusive. Amendments made to the 2010 Electoral Act were rejected by President Buhari five times for varied reasons. In his last rejection, President Buhari had cited that restricting the mode of primaries to direct primaries and providing no options violated the Constitution. The National Assembly responded by amending and re-introducing into the final version, primaries by direct and indirect means, as well as a further request by the President for consensus candidacy.
President Muhammadu Buhari wrote to the Senate and House of Representatives in a letter dated 28th February 2022, seeking an amendment to the recently signed Electoral Act 2022. President Buhari is requesting for an amendment to section 84(12) of the Electoral Act, 2022, which states that:
“No political Appointee at any level shall be a voting delegate or be voted for at the Convention or Congress of any political party for the purpose of the nomination of candidates of any election”
He noted that this provision is in direct conflict with the provisions of sections 40 and 42 of the 1999 Nigerian Constitution and disenfranchises serving political office holders from voting or being voted for at conventions or congresses of any political party, for the purpose of nomination of candidates for any election in cases where it holds earlier than 30 days to the election.
With a new electoral law in place, the expectations for improved elections have certainly risen. The demand on the election management body, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to improve on its processes and practices will certainly increase. Among some of the new provisions in the Act, is electronic transmission of election results, improvements in voting by persons with disabilities (PWDs), curb on abuse of electoral process, among others. It is expected that the first real test to the new Electoral Act will take place in the upcoming Ekiti and Osun Governorship elections scheduled to hold on 18th June and 16th July 2022, respectively. This test will give indications on what to expect as the country prepares for the next general elections in 2023.
New Dates for Elections
In the meantime, INEC has issued notice for the general elections. It has also issued notice for political parties to submit their lists of candidates for the elections. In the Notice of Election, the Presidential and National Assembly elections will hold on 25th February 2023 while the Governorship and State Houses of Assembly will hold on 11th March 2023.