Senior lawyers, civil society organisations and political parties have differed on the prospects of conducting federal and state elections on the same day as proposed by some lawmakers in a Bill before the House of Representatives.
The parties and CSOs say the idea is a good one because it will make elections more inclusive, tame corruption and save cost.
However, senior lawyers who spoke with LEADERSHIP said holding national and subnational elections in one day would be overbearing for the electoral body in terms of logistics.
LEADERSHIP recalls that one of the bills by over 30 House of Representatives members, who call themselves Reform Minded Lawmakers From Different Political Parties, seeking the conduct of presidential, national assembly, governorship, state houses of assembly, local government, and area council (FCT) elections in one day passed first reading last Monday.
At present, national elections, which include presidential and federal legislative elections, are held two weeks ahead of subnational elections, which are governorship and State House of Assembly elections.
Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) conducts both sets of elections.
There are debates on whether one-day conduct of all elections will reduce cost and manipulation, despite perennial logistics challenges that the electoral commission has battled with in most elections since 1999.
IPAC Supports Holding Same-day Elections
Political parties, under the aegis of the Inter Party Advisory Council (IPAC), said they support holding the presidential, senatorial, House of Representatives, governorship, and state assembly elections in one day.
The national chairman of IPAC, Yusuf Mamman Dantalle, in his reaction to the bill seeking to make INEC hold national and state elections in one day, said doing so would guarantee free, fair, credible, transparent, inclusive and peaceful elections.
He averred that it is the only option that will ensure the integrity of the electoral process and foster sustainable democracy in Nigeria.
According to him, conducting national and state elections in one day will not only save funds needed for development, but also save time, manpower, logistics, and the bandwagon effect.
It would also drastically reduce violence and voter fatigue, which result in low voter turnout, he stated.
“If elections are conducted in one day, all the political parties and their candidates will focus on the polls in their respective constituencies, which will reduce influence peddling, vote trading and rigging, which often manifest when national and state elections are conducted separately as political parties in government mobilise party chieftains from other states and resources to subvert the polls, particularly candidates who have already won their elections. It will encourage high voter turnout and protection of ballot boxes,” he said.
He added that the umbrella body of all the registered political parties in Nigeria supports the National Assembly’s passing of the bill, saying that it is a giant step forward in deepening democracy and fostering sustainable development in Nigeria.
IPAC advocated the scrapping of State Independent Electoral Commissions (SIECs) and for INEC to conduct all local government elections.
According to him, SIECs have proven incompetent and incapable of conducting free, fair, and credible elections, as they are mere appendages of various government houses.
“To restore confidence in the electoral process, the INEC should conduct all the local government elections as it has the manpower, resources, and logistics to handle them. This mockery of the nation’s democracy by SIECs must stop. Nigerians desire and deserve credible elections as sovereignty resides in the people,” he said.
He also said IPAC is in support of the federal government’s suit on local government autonomy as the third tier of government closest to the people, and urged the Supreme Court to uphold it.
CSOs Back Bill For National, State Election To Hold One-day
Similarly, civil society organisations (CSOs) in Nigeria have backed the bill seeking to mandate INEC to hold both national and state elections in one day.
According to the CSOs, holding national and state elections in one day will help reduce logistics challenges, cut costs, and tame electoral manipulation.
The CSOs who spoke to LEADERSHIP are the Transition Monitoring Group (TMG), Transparency International (TI) and the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC).
Speaking through their leader, Awwal Musa Rafsanjani, the CSOs said having all elections in one day would cut costs and reduce election manipulations.
He said: “We believe that if there is political will, there won’t be a problem,” Rafsanjani said of the calls to hold both federal and state elections in one day.
“Conducting both the state and the federal election in one day will reduce cost. The conduct of the presidential, senatorial, House of Representatives, gubernatorial and state House of Assembly elections will reduce the problems of election manipulation. It will also tackle logistics problems.
“This is our belief, and we know that with political will INEC can plan and execute these elections in one day.
“It reduces unnecessary spending of time, resources and money, because the logistics issues will be addressed. Also, it will help reduce manipulation because it holds in one day, and people know that they only have one day for the elections,” Rafsanjani said.
Another CSO, Yiaga Africa, also backed the calls for holding national and state elections in one day.
According to Yiaga, if proper logistics are implemented, it will be better for both elections to be held in one day rather than having them staggered.
It pointed out that in most African countries, elections are held in one day, and Nigeria should not be an exception.
Speaking to LEADERSHIP, the executive director of Yiaga Africa, Samson Itodo, said holding an election in one day would be fantastic.
“But the operationalisation is the problem. Holding both national and state elections in one day reduces cost. Each voter has five ballot papers, and the election ends in one day,” Itodo added.
He, however, expressed worry that given Nigeria’s nature, logistics could be a challenge if the process is not well-planned.
“But the logistics must be in place; voters must be educated adequately. It will be a good approach and proposal. South Africa, Kenya and many other African countries are conducting elections in one day.
“All African countries are holding the election in one day, and Nigeria should not be an exception, but the logistics must be put in place with adequate voter education,” Itodo added.
Convener of Global Integrity Network Crusade, Barrister Edward Omaga, also agreed that all the elections should be conducted in one day to save cost.
He said those who have to travel to vote will save themselves the risk of travelling to vote and the cost of travelling.
He said with adequate preparations, sensitive materials and logistics issues can be handled.
Omaga said, “If the bill is passed that elections should be conducted in one day, it will reduce cost and risk for those who have to travel to vote.
“With adequate preparation, the issue of logistics and distribution of sensitive materials can be handled.
“If funds are released early, it’s something that can be done. As a matter of fact, if the elections are conducted in one day, there would be no need to pay ad-hoc staff twice because it’s only a day’s job that they will be paid for.
“Having our general elections on separate days will give room for manipulations because those who may not have the opportunity to travel for the second round of elections will give room for easy manipulation of the ballot,” he said.
Lawyers object
However, senior lawyers who spoke to LEADERSHIP called for caution and advised that it may not produce the desired outcomes.
According to them, the nation will be the loser if such is allowed in the nation’s political life.
A Lagos-based lawyer, Wahab Shittu (SAN), said simultaneously holding national and state elections would pose significant logistical challenges for INEC.
Shittu said, “In my respectful view, such arrangements will be cumbersome and raise enormous logistics and security challenges that will overwhelm INEC. It would strain INEC’s capacity and capabilities to their limits.”
Another Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Abdul Balogun, said even advanced countries do not hold all elections in one day.
“Not only is our country not ripe for it, but we are also not prepared for it,” he said, adding that the law is not against it, but that many things have to be considered before the idea can be considered.
He said,” We must be realistic; such a plan is not feasible for now because so many things are involved to make it work.
“The logistics involved in conducting elections into the offices of the president and 36 states of the federation, including the Federal Capital Territory, is something INEC and its staff may not be able to handle.
“Even with how the elections are conducted, the credibility is always contested, so making it more complex will spell doom for our electoral process.”
Constitutional lawyer Inuwa A. Ahmad said for Nigeria not to destroy its electoral process totally, such a bill should not scale through.
“We are always faced with the issue of credibility in our elections, even if they are held twice.
“Up until now, the presidential and governorship elections have been done separately. We are still faced with the issue of credibility because of the manipulation of the process, so you can imagine what would happen if elections were conducted in one day. You can rest assured that INEC will be overwhelmed, thereby giving room for manipulations,” Ahmad said.