.lists sections of Electoral Act that should be addressed by NASS
By Our Reporter
A political group, Movement for Credible Elections (MCE) on Monday condemned what it described as the growing fragility in Nigeria electioneering system, and,, therefore, urged for a credible electoral reform before the 2027 General Elections to avoid the exercise being "at risk."
The group, while making the call, maintained that the fragility in the electioneering system had made the electorate to lose trust in the system, noting that the rot in the electioneering system had equally made it impossible for the electoral system to reflect true will of the people.
The movement, while noting that the briefing, which held in Lagos was the inaugural meeting, expressed its resolve at having branches across the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.
This was just as the group noted that areas that required more attention by the National Assembly, include strengthening the Electoral Act 2022, Mandatory Electronic Transmission of Results, Strict Sanctions for Electoral Offences.
The movement further demanded that sections of the Electoral Act dealing with electoral offences must be strengthened to impose clear, deterrent penalties for vote buying, voter’s intimidation, assault on election personnel, destruction of election materials, and falsification of results, adding that there was need to Strengthening the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) institutional Independence.
Addressing the press in Lagos, one of the leaders of the group, Hon. Usman Bugaje, who briefed the press in company of Prof. Pat Utomi, and former Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) Chairman, Comrade Ayuba Wabba, said there was the need for systemic and decisive constitutional/electoral reforms before the 2027 General Elections, warning that the forthcoming exercise was seriously at risk if the reform was not carried out before then.
Bugaje warned that MCE the consequences would be deeper in public disillusionment, growing public resentment and further erosion of democratic legitimacy, which he said would open doors to political instability.
"It is for this reason that MCE, a national coalition of civil groups and citizens, formally calls on the leadership of the National Assembly, both the Senate and the House of Representatives, to prioritize far reaching and non- negotiable reforms in the ongoing harmonization of electoral reform bills ahead of the 2027 elections.
"MCE emphasised that successive electoral cycles in Nigeria have witnessed the same troubling electoral patterns. These include electoral violence, voter suppression, vote buying, weak logistics, selective deployment of technology, poor enforcement of electoral laws, manipulation during collation, and the open circumvention of voters’ choices. These problems are no longer isolated incidents," he said.
Utomi, in his remark, sadly noted that the country in dire situation "and pushing dangerously to the brink, saying that it was time for true citizens to arise to the occasion and rescue her.
"The state of our nation is unsound and pushing dangerously to the brink. It is time for citizens, true citizens, to arise, and draw a line in the sand. Before us is collapse vs progress; life and death. We must choose life that we may live," he said.
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