The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says
lawmakers in the national and state houses of assembly should be barred from
defecting from one party to another while in office.
The electoral body made the suggestion on Friday in Abuja at
the presentation of its ‘Report of the 2019 General Election’.
According to the report, “such defectors should
automatically lose their seats except in the case of merger of two or more
parties”.
It said the constitution should be amended and be made to back the recommendation.
Cases of lawmakers defecting from one party to another have
often stirred controversies.
In 2018, after ex-senate president Bukola Saraki and Yakubu
Dogara, former speaker of the house of representatives, left the All
Progressives Congress (APC) for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the APC
asked them to resign their positions on the grounds that the senate president
and the speaker should not be from a minority party.
INEC also made other proposals including, the “creation of
electoral offences commission and tribunal with powers to arrest, investigate
and prosecute electoral offenders; automation of the nomination process to
facilitate the storage, access and retrieval of candidates’ data. Sourcing of
its ad hoc personnel from its pool of retired staff, delivery of all
non-sensitive election materials to states and FCT offices 30 days to any
election so as ensure proper audit and quality assurance; need to review the
criteria for recruiting collation officers and returning officers”.
The recommendations, according to Mahmood Yakubu, INEC
chairman, either require administrative action by the commission or amendments
to the existing electoral legal framework by the national assembly.
“Some of the recommendations that require administrative
action by INEC are already being implemented resulting in improved management
of the electoral process as seen in the recent off-cycle Governorship elections
in Edo and Ondo States,” Yakubu said.
“We are similarly engaging with the National Assembly on
aspects of the recommendations that require legislative action.’’
“It is my hope that making the two reports public will
promote a better understanding of the issues and challenges associated with the
conduct of the 2019 General Election and as important resource materials for
research.
“It is my hope that
it will serve as the promotion of a broader national discourse on the necessary
reforms required for the continued delivery of peaceful, free, fair, credible,
inclusive and safe elections in Nigeria.’’
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