As a way of displaying its commitments to the Nigerian electorate, the ninth National Assembly had passed the Electoral Act Amendment Bill in July 2021, prior to their annual recess. This development had been long overdue, as the said bill had lingered for long whilst suffering from a series of vested political interest.

Whilst its passage caused some form of euphoria, there are grey areas that continue to undermine the supposed progress that its passage ordinarily would have guaranteed. In this manner, it is important to emphasize that the passage of the Bill had led to the division of the national legislators as some legislators (majorly from the House) adopted the Committee’s recommendation whilst some others (majorly from the Senate) had occasioned an amendment leading to an obvious breach of the independence of the electoral umpire – INEC. The aforementioned amendment was made, precisely, to Clause 50(2) of the Bill in the Senate:

The Commission may consider electronic transmission of results, provided that the national coverage is adjudged to be adequate and secure by the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC) and approved by the National Assembly.

Obviously, the above Clause from the Senate’s version runs contrary to the provisions of same Bill, and it is to that extent inconsistent with S.63(5); S.78; S.160 and Paragraph 15 of the Third Schedule to the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic (as amended).

Given the above discrepancy between the version passed by the House and that passed by the Senate, legislative precedence demands that a Joint Conference Committee is set up. This was done in September 2021. This Conference Committee shall be considering the various areas of divergence between the Bills in both Chambers, with a view to reconciling them and presenting it to the National Assembly for adoption.

In view of the above, the coalition of Nigerian women wishes to make the following recommendations to the legislators as they prepare for the conference:

1. That the Nigerian legislators must not forget that the ultimate reason for government and governance is the people; as such, they must not rescind on making sure that the will of the people prevails – allowing for the transmission of election results electronically, as had been provided for by Clause 50 of the Bill;
2. That the Nigerian legislators must do all that is necessary to ensuring that the version to be passed by the Conference Committee is gender-sensitive and shall to that extent not be anti-women;
3. That the Nigerian legislators are mindful of the obvious time-restrictions included in the provisions of the Electoral Bill, 2021 e.g. the duration during which the INEC must have been funded prior to elections; the timelines for conducting party primary elections etc. The foregoing simultaneously makes a case of exigency around the need for an expedite process, if the 2021 Electoral Bill must prevail during the 2023 general elections;
4. That the Nigerian legislators must be mindful of the independence of the electoral umpire, INEC, and must not indiscriminately attach it to the whims and caprices of another governmental institution(s), precisely the NCC nor the National Assembly.
5. That the Nigerian Legislators must remember that the electoral credibility and sanctity of the Nigerian state is far beyond the vested interest of any individual or perhaps a group of individuals. Rather, Nigeria’s electoral sanctity is a subject of national interest, which at all times supersedes any other interest.