The Independent National Electoral Commission has urged the Nigerian government to clarify the recently amended Electoral Act to ensure it is easily understood by voters.
INEC Chairman, Professor Joash Amupitan, explained that what Nigeria needs is a simple legislation on the Electoral Act, written in a simplified language, that will be easy for every Nigerian to understand.
Prof Amupitan made the call at a citizens’ town hall meeting organized by the Civil Society Network on Election Integrity and the Electoral Act, held in Abuja, on Sunday.
The INEC Chairman’s call comes amid the controversy surrounding the real-time transmission of election results, which he said must be clarified, considering that Nigeria is a highly diverse society, especially in its political and electoral landscapes.
He said, “We have gone through the Electoral Act, from the beginning to the end, and we have looked at some of the contentious areas, especially in a country that is highly diverse.
“What Nigeria needs is actually what I call simple legislation, a simple language legislation, whereby it will be possible for every Nigerian to understand and appreciate the provisions of every section.
“Talking about the transmission of the result, when INEC came in, we thought that transmission should be mandated. But let us be sincere about this, the only problem we had is how to define what we call real time.
“For instance, the FCT area council election that just took place, in Kuje, results came out on time in five area councils, but the result from Kabi ward did not come until the following day, Sunday. We could not reach our officers; they were not accessible by phone.
“I don’t see the issue of transmission as a problem; the problem is the adequacy of the network we have.
“You expect that in a place like FCT, you should be able to transmit your results without any encumbrance.
“But we had a situation where it was impossible for us to have a real-time transmission of results because of coverage.”
