The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) has suggested an amendment to the Nigerian Constitution that will ensure all electoral disputes are disposed before inauguration of successful candidates.
The forum, in a position paper to the Sen. Ken Nnamani’s Constitution and Electoral Reform Committee, said that was to prevent incumbents from using public resources in the prosecution of electoral disputes.
The ACF also said resolving electoral disputes before the swearing-in of winners would ensure that good governance was not disrupted by litigations.
The ACF, in the paper signed by its secretary-general, Col. JIP Ubah (rtd), called for the amendment to the relevant constitutional provisions and the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended), saying the long process of hearing election petitions and delivery of judgments encouraged corruption in the system.
The ACF also wants INEC to be truly independent as it observed that the current process where the chairman, national commissioners and resident electoral commissioners were appointed by the president made them susceptible to manipulation.
It also said INEC should limit the number of voters to 500 in each polling unit for easy accessibility and collation of result, while electoral offences tribunal should be created and public funding of political parties be discontinued.
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