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…As lawmakers telephone for stiffer penalties for electoral offenders, condemn defections and electoral violence
By Henry Umoru, Abuja
The Senate has projected a large betterment to Nigeria’s electoral process, seeking to displacement the load of impervious successful predetermination petitions from litigants to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) arsenic portion of the ongoing process to repeal the Electoral Act 2022 and enact a caller Electoral Bill, 2025.
Lawmakers made the connection connected Wednesday during statement connected the wide principles of the Bill for an Act to modulate the behaviour of federal, state, and country assembly elections successful the Federal Capital Territory. The measure was sponsored by Senator Simon Lalong (APC, Plateau South).
INEC Must Be Held Responsible — Akpabio
Presiding implicit the debate, Senate President Godswill Akpabio said INEC indispensable beryllium held accountable for the behaviour and integrity of elections, stressing that the electoral umpire, being successful custody of materials and logistics, should carnivore the work of proving that elections were conducted successful accordance with the law.
“I hold with Senator Dickson and different senators who person called for shifting the load of impervious successful electoral litigations from litigants to INEC,” Akpabio said. “INEC is liable for predetermination logistics and conduct; it indispensable truthful beryllium that the processes it supervises comply with the law.”
Dickson: Burden of Proof Must Shift to INEC
Senator Seriake Dickson (PDP, Bayelsa West) argued that the clip had travel to betterment Nigeria’s evidential modular successful electoral disputes.
“The existent regularisation that the challenger indispensable beryllium irregularities unfairly handicaps justice,” helium said. “INEC conducts the elections, appoints ad-hoc officials, collates and announces results; it should truthful carnivore the superior load of proving that elections were conducted peacefully and lawfully.”
Dickson noted that Nigeria indispensable consolidate antiauthoritarian gains and fortify electoral integrity, citing examples from Ghana and different African democracies. He urged the Senate to modernize the system, empower INEC to deploy much technology, and guarantee capable funding.
Oshiomhole: Election Violence Fuels Crime
Senator Adams Oshiomhole (APC, Edo North) decried the militarization of elections and the post-election surge successful transgression caused by unrecovered weapons.
“After each election, crimes emergence due to the fact that weapons fixed to hoodlums during elections are not recovered,” helium said. “Even nether the existent laws, we tin person credible elections if we person a alteration of heart.”
He urged information agencies to beryllium decently guided connected their roles during elections to forestall maltreatment of powerfulness and violence.
Dandutse: Defections Degrading Nigeria’s Democracy
Senator Muntari Dandutse (APC, Katsina South) condemned governmental defections, describing them arsenic “disgraceful and shameful,” and called for ineligible provisions to portion defectors of their seats.
“It is disgraceful to transportation the people’s mandate to different party,” Dandutse said. “To reconstruct the dignity of Nigeria’s democracy, we indispensable guarantee that radical stay successful the parties that brought them to office.”
He besides urged that the fig of registered governmental parties beryllium reduced to not much than ten, arguing that galore presently beryllium lone connected paper.
Senators Call for Stricter Sanctions and Electoral Reforms
Senator Sampson Ekong (APC, Akwa Ibom South) emphasized the request for a alteration of cognition toward electoral integrity, noting that laws unsocial cannot present credible polls without enforcement.
“We don’t deficiency the laws, but enforcement. We indispensable guarantee that results bespeak the people’s volition and that players spot themselves arsenic trustees of the people,” helium said.
Senator Abdul Ningi (PDP, Bauchi Central) besides urged the inclusion of each elected governmental officeholders arsenic delegates successful enactment primaries to fortify interior democracy.
The Senate volition present proceed to clause-by-clause information of the Electoral Bill, 2025, wherever projected reforms—including the displacement of evidential load to INEC, stronger sanctions for electoral offenders, and regularisation of defections—will beryllium critically reviewed.
The station Senate moves to displacement load of impervious successful electoral disputes to INEC...
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