The Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) and the Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room have called for an urgent reforms that would promote credibility and accountability in Nigeria’s Electoral Processes, ahead of the 2027 general elections.
This was contained in a communique issued at the end of the Situation Room Advocacy Meeting with the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) held in Abuja on Friday to discuss issues bothering on electoral integrity in Nigeria, which was signed by the National President of NUJ, Comrade Alhassan Yahaya and the Convener, Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room, YZ Ya’u.
The meeting which brought together key stakeholders in the media and civil society to discuss potential partnership to promote credibility and accountability in Nigeria’s elections, identified a number of issues that are clogs in the wheels of progress of the Nigeria’s electoral processes and suggested key reforms that will remedy the situation if implemented by the relevant authorities.
As part of the needed reforms, the meeting called on the National Assembly to work towards unbundling INEC including moving voter education responsibility to the National Orientation Agency (NOA), expedite action on the Election Offences Commission Bill, amend the electoral act to mandate compulsory electronic transmission of election results to limit manipulation and should be more diligent and sensitive in its vetting process of nominees into INEC and ensure the opinions of the civil society and the media are considered during thee screening.
The meeting also called on the President, Bola Tinubu, to ensure that no politically exposed persons are nominated into INEC, in view of the impending vacancies in the commission ahead of the general elections and should also protect the independence of the Judiciary and INEC.
On the part of INEC, the meeting urged the Commission to publish on its website and disseminate information regarding both prosecuted and unprosecuted cases of electoral malpractices till date, provide the public with details of its financial allocations, expenditure and procurement processes and should be diligent in its work at regulating political parties and ensure that parties’ reports of campaign finance are submitted and published timeously.
To Security agencies, the meeting, advocated thus: “Nigerian Police Force (NPF) which is the lead agency in election security in Nigeria should provide a public update on their investigation and prosecution of perpetrators of attacks against journalists and observers during the 2023 General elections.
“According to the Press Attack Tracker of the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID), 89 journalists were attacked in the 2023 General Elections in the country.
“Work to eliminate militarisation of elections in Nigeria, must protect journalists covering elections and guarantee press freedom in line with democratic principles and need for greater collaboration between the security agencies and the media to prevent attack, harassment and intimidation of journalists on civic duties.”
The meeting urged political parties to imbibe internal party democracy, including keeping a proper and standard register of members, adhering to extant laws on political and campaign financing, and upholding the rule of law in their operations and practices.
It tasked Political parties to fulfil their responsibility as required by law by deploying party agents to all levels of election in which they are involved, adding that Political parties and candidates must commit to issue-based campaigns and refrain from skipping public debates before elections.
Our Correspondents report that the Advocacy meeting attracted Journalists and Members of Civil Society across the 36 states of the Country and FCT.
