Electoral Ammendment: Labour Party Demands Full Autonomy To LG, Abolition Of State Electoral Commission


As the National Assembly resumes plenary to debate on the electoral act, the Labour Party (LP), has warned that any amendment that fails to give full autonomy to local government councils, abolishes state independent electoral commission and grants INEC the responsibility to conduct local government elections in the country, is an amendment only meant to serve the political elite.


The party also said the two weeks vacation embarked by the National Assembly purposely for the membership revalidation of a political party at a time when there was pandemonium in the country especially in the South West and South Eastern regions was unfortunate.


The National Secretary of the Labour Party, Barr Julius Abure in a chat with newsmen in Abuja today called on the legislators "to wear the garment of patriotism and to for once take hold of the momentous opportunity of the ongoing amendment to reflect the yearnings and aspirations of the people."


Some other recommendations by the Labour Party's scribe to be considered during the amendment include an amendment that will legitimise the use of technology in the electoral system; that will ease the participation of the visually impaired persons and other persons living with disabilities in the electoral process; and that will enhance youth participation amongst others.


Part of the text of his statement are, "As  previously stated a viable, dependable and a credible electoral process is a panacea for growth and development in Nigeria. This is particularly so since it will create the ambience and enabling environment for patriotic, intelligent, result oriented Nigerians to emerge as leaders of the country. At the moment Nigeria needs such leadership in order to confront the plethora of problems confronting the Nation. The country must be repositioned for service delivery to its citizens.


"This underscores the importance for us as a country to embark on a comprehensive reforms of our  electoral process which must begin by the the amendment of the 1999 Constitution as amended and Electoral Act.


"Accordingly, we call all members of the National Assembly to wear the garment of patriotism and to for once take hold of the momentous opportunity of the ongoing amendment to reflect the yearnings and aspirations of the people. 


"However, any amendment which does not make provision for the underlisted is an amendment only for the political elite in Nigeria. They are:


"The Constitution and the Electoral Act must be amended to give full autonomy to Local Government Councils. State independent Electoral Commission should be abolished and INEC given the responsibility to conduct Local Government Elections in the country. This will remove local councils from the claws, cleavages and prevent State Governors from appointing their Stooges as officials of LGA. The state joint account must be abolished. This is without prejudice to what Mr President has done in the recent past to ensure that funds are released directly from the federation account to all LGAs in Nigeria


"An amendment that will legitimise the use of technology in the electoral system to wit; voters are electronically accredited which will confirm, authenticate and verify a voter; polling unit election results are published and electronically transmitted to INEC Website and other platforms and  made accessible to members of the public; give INEC the power to adopt electronic voting and electronic collation and transmission of election results. This will reduce the huge cost of logistics, saves time and energy currently spent on election materials. 


"Reflect amendments that will ease the participation of the visually impaired persons and other persons living with disabilities  in the electoral process.


"Insert novel and incisive provisions that will remove all disabilities and enhance the participation of Youths in the electoral process.


"Make deliberate provisions to enhance the participation of women in the electoral process.


"Insert provisions that will aid the prosecution of electoral offenders and discourage vote buying. INEC should be relieved  of the burden of preventing, investigating and prosecuting electoral Electoral offences."

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