Ahead of the 2023 general elections, a bill to amend the Electoral Act currently before the House of Representatives has proposed stiff penalties for electoral offenders including officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and political parties, among others.
Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Professor Mahmood Yakubu had, at a function at the House of Representatives, called for the introduction of electoral reforms that would change the election process in the country. Specifically, Yakubu advocated for stiff penalties for election offenders.
The bill, a consolidation of various bills on Electoral Act amendment is titled ‘An Act to Repeal the Electoral Act 2020, to regulate the conduct of federal, state and area council elections and for related matters, 2020’.
It was observed that new provisions have been incorporated into the bill while others were either expunged or amended.
Prominent among the proposals in the bill was a clause to restrict the qualification for elective office to relevant provisions of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended).
The bill which has passed second reading seeks to strengthen the use of card readers and other technological devices in elections and political party primaries.
It also seeks to provide a timeline for the submission of list of candidates, criteria for substitution of candidates, campaign expenses and address the omission of names of candidates or logo, or political parties.
To address some of the concerns as raised by the INEC chairman and other Nigerians, a new provision, Section (4A) reads: “A person, being a member of a political party, misrepresents himself by not disclosing his membership, affiliation, or connection to any political party in order to secure an appointment with the commission in any capacity, commits an offence and is liable on conviction, to a fine of N5,000,000 or imprisonment for a term of not less than five years or both”.
Another new provision (1A) states thus: “An official or staff of the commission, who fails to display or publish the voters’ register as provided under subsection (1) of this section, commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine of N100,000 or imprisonment for a term of six months or both”.
The bill also proposes penalties for political parties that go contrary to the provisions of Section 86 (1) which requires them to give INEC at least 21 days’ notice on any convention, congress, conference or meeting convened for the purpose of “merger and fusion” or electing members of its executive committees, other governing bodies or nominating candidates.
The new provision in the proposed amendment states that “Failure of a political party to notify the commission as stated in Subsection (1) shall render the convention, congress, conference or meeting invalid.”
Section 86 (4) stated further that: “A political party which fails to provide the required information or clarification under Subsection (2) of this section or carries out any lawful directive given by the commission in conformity with the provisions of this section, “Shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding N1,000,000”.
A new provision also seeks to prevent other entities from using the logo of a deregistered political party for five years after re-registration.
It reads: “Where a political party is deregistered, no political association shall be permitted to use the name, symbol or acronym of the deregistered political party within five years.”
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