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Electoral reforms: Falana seeks implementation of Uwais, Lemu, Nnamanis report

Published by The Nation on Sun, 17 Feb 2019


Lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN) has urged the civil societies to join forces and mount pressure on the federal government to implement the recommendations of the Electoral Reforms Panels headed by Retired Justice Mohammed Uwais, Sheik Ahmed Lemu and Dr. Ken Nnamani for the country to have flawless elections in future.He stated that the postponement of last Saturdays elections by the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) on account of logistical or operational reasons cannot be justified under the Electoral Act or the Constitution and would have been prevented if the reports, with far reaching electoral reforms, have been implemented. Falana stated this in a statement issued in Lagos on Sunday titled: Time to revisit reports of Uwais, Lemu and Nnamabi panels.By virtue of section 26 of the Electoral Act, an election may be postponed if a serious breach of peace or violence is likely to occur or on account of natural disaster or other emergencies. To prevent any abuse of power the reasons for postponement of any election must be cogent and verifiable, he maintained. He said the panels, set up by the Yaradua, Jonathan and Buhari regimes respectively,had recommended the unbundling of INEC for effective performance.Read also:Poll Shift: INEC to decide on resumption of campaignHe contended that the postponement of the 2019 general election would not have occured if the federal government had unbundled the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) and ensured the practice of internal democracy in the political parties.He accused the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the People Democratic Party (PDP) of failing to commit themselves to electoral reforms and for forgetting that the late President Umoru Yaradua had admitted that the 2007 general election which produced his regime was highly flawed.Since general elections had been postponed on two previous occasions due to lack of adequate preparations, he argued that INEC ought to have prevented the shifting of the 2019 general election.He said INEC and the political parties contributed to the postponement of the elections which he described as a national shame and embarrassment.Owing to the decision of political leaders to select and impose candidates on their parties in utter violation of section 87 of the Electoral Act many aggrieved candidates rushed to court for legal redress.Consequently, not less than 600 pre-election cases were filed and are pending in the various courts while not less 40 orders have directed INEC to accept the names of candidates who won the primaries but were shortchanged. The resort to litigation due to the impunity of majority of political parties contributed to the unwarranted delay in the preparations of INEC for the general elections, he argued. He said both the APC and PDP, apart from INEC, should apologise to Nigerians for their deliberate refusal to implement the electoral reforms recommended by the two panels.He stated for instance as INEC lacks the capacity to prosecute electoral offenders, an electoral offences commission/ tribunal was recommended for the enforcement of laws to address all forms of electoral offences and consequently stem the incidence of electoral violence.Even the panels had recommended that the posts of the chairman and other members of the INEC be advertised in order to make them independent of the executive. But in a bid to sustain the status quo of electoral fraud, these recommendations and others have been rejected by the PDP and APC-led federal government, he said. He said INEC, having shifted the general election by seven days is wrong to ban political parties and their candidates from further campaigning for votes.He advised the commission to reverse the limitation of campaign imposed on the political parties immediately.He noted: INEC has not paid attention to Section 99 of the Electoral Act which provides that the period of campaigning in public by political parties shall end 24 hours before polling day. Since elections have been shifted, the period of campaign has also shifted and will end 24 hours to the new polling day.He also advised INEC to comply with all valid and subsisting court orders with respect to the candidates sponsored by political parties for the general elections to avoid the courts annulling some of the elections in future on grounds of exclusion of qualified candidates.
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