T HE I MPERATIVE OF E LECTORAL R EFORM A S A C RITICAL E LEMENT OF C ONSTITUTIONAL R E - E NGINEERING OF N IGERIA By Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, SAN Paper delivered.

Presentation on theme: "T HE I MPERATIVE OF E LECTORAL R EFORM A S A C RITICAL E LEMENT OF C ONSTITUTIONAL R E - E NGINEERING OF N IGERIA By Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, SAN Paper delivered."— Presentation transcript:

1 T HE I MPERATIVE OF E LECTORAL R EFORM A S A C RITICAL E LEMENT OF C ONSTITUTIONAL R E - E NGINEERING OF N IGERIA By Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, SAN Paper delivered at the Law Week of the Nigerian Bar Association, Ikeja Branch, April 30 th 2009.

2 ELECTORAL REFORM History of Elections in Nigeria shows that with each successive election, the credibility of the electoral process has been further damaged 2

3 1964 First after departure of British NPC/NNA NPC and AKINTOLA’S NNDP to form NNA Harassment & Detention of opponents Preventing rallies, etc 3

4 1965 Western Region elections worse than 1964 NNDP now in power perfected rigging Returning officers deserting posts after accepting nomination papers of government candidates or outrightly refusing to accept nominations 16 NNDP candidates returned unopposed 4

5 1965 Arikpo in his DEVELOPMENT OF MODERN NIGERIA recounted that: “The most notorious example of this travesty was the case of a man who won the election in one of the Owo constituencies, his NNDP opponent was declared the victor. He thereupon announced that he had (upon deep reflection) decided to join the NNDP. A few days after this announcement, the Electoral Commissioner declared him the successful candidate and quietly dropped his opponent 5

6 1983 Resurgence of 1964 & 1965 Rigging but mostly ballot dumping and falsification of results 6

7 2003 Brazen rigging INEC’S complicity well established Law enforcement/ Military 7

8 2003 In the 2003 Presidential election petition, petitioners averred in their petition that in respect of Akwa Ibom state that : “At a meeting which took place at the Banquet hall of the Government house in the early hours of April 19 2003 (the day of the presidential elections), officials of the ruling PDP and 36 soldiers from the 6 th motorized battalion Ibagwa, Abak led by the commanding officers, Lt S. A. Sangonuga, thumbprinted the materials, and allocated figures, between the hours of 2.30 and 5.30am on April 19 2003. Team leaders of the group collected N200,000 each from the PDP liason officers in their areas of posting. The Petitioners went on to list the names, ranks, and commission members of the 36 soldiers in their petition. In response, the respondents merely denied the occurrence. 8

9 2007 Worst ever by all independent accounts Ballot dumping ; multiple thumbprinting Use of police and army Multiple thumbprinting found in high percentages accounts 9

10 I NEXPLICABLE DISCREPANCIES BETWEEN VOTES FOR P RESIDENTIAL AND G UBERNATORIAL CANDIDATES DESPITE THE FACT THAT BALLOT PAPERS WERE HANDED TO VOTERS SIMULTANEOUSLY State Regd. Voters President Governors Ogun1,576,875 1,365,367747,296 Ondo1,504,181 995,084960,080 Osun1,367,627 783,914801,812 Kano 4,000,430 2,339,7921,734,151 Rivers 2,272,238 2,171,2152,111,188 C/ Rivers 1,289,019 1,238,1751,065,631 Borno 2,156,019 1,336,480 817,533 Katsina 2,567,245 1,711,2121,721,067 10

11 UWAIS PROPOSALS 11

12 U NBUNDLING OF INEC Political Parties Registration and regulatory Commission Electoral Offences Commission Constituency Delimitation Commission 12

13 INDEPENDENCE OF INEC NJC to advertise all the positions, shortlist 3 persons for each position Send nominations to national Council of State who select one from shortlist and forward to Senate for confirmation 13

14 T HE E LECTORAL S YSTEM First past the Post for 70% Legislative seats Proportional Representation 30 % Females – 30% of Proportional Representation Persons With Disabilities – 2% of Proportional Representation Political parties that secure at least 2.5% of National Assembly Seats- Cabinet Level 14

15 E FFICIENT E LECTORAL A DMINISTRATION Design & Handling of Ballot ppaers – security Features Voting process – Electronic Voting Machines Accreditation within defined time frame Voting within defined time frame 15

16 R EFORMS Abolition of State Independent Electoral Commissions [SIECS] 16

17 I NDEPENDENT C ANDIDATURE Constituency based nomination by verifiable signatures of 10 registered voters in each ward in the Constituency Payment of Deposit which will be refunded if candidate scores at least 10% of valid votes 17

18 E NSURING THE C ONCLUSION OF E LECTION PETITION D ISPUTES B EFORE S WEARING IN O F N EWLY E LECTED O FFICIALS Need to produce rules and procedures that enhance speedy disposal of election petitions The Law should shift the burden of proof from the petitioners to INEC to show that disputed elections were indeed free and fair and complied with the provisions of the Electoral Act Rules of evidence should be formulated to achieve substantive justice rather than mere observance of technicalities 18

19 E NSURING THE C ONCLUSION OF E LECTION PETITION D ISPUTES B EFORE S WEARING IN O F N EWLY E LECTED O FFICIALS Elections to the office of President and Governors should be held at least six months before the expiration of their terms. A maximum of four months should be devoted to hearing petitions by the tribunals and another two months for hearing appeals by the Court of Appeal or Supreme Court. 19

20 E NSURING THE C ONCLUSION OF E LECTION PETITION D ISPUTES B EFORE S WEARING IN O F N EWLY E LECTED O FFICIALS No executive should be sworn in before the conclusion of the cases against him/her. In the case of legislators, no one should be sworn in before the determination of the case against him/ her INEC should have no right of appeal 20

21 OTHER R EFORMS Admissibility of Evidence Reliance on Forensic Evidence Voters registration- Biometrics Proof beyond reasonable doubt too high 21