Abuja: Abuja School of Social and Political Thought (TAS) and organised labour have unveiled a ‘National Action Plan on Electoral Reform’ (NASAER), with a call for overhaul of Nigeria’s electoral system. Executive Director of TAS, Dr. Sam Amadi, who presented the initiative in Abuja, said that NASAER outlined a comprehensive strategy to strengthen Nigeria’s electoral process, ensuring transparency, fairness, and inclusivity.
According to News Agency of Nigeria, NASAER is an initiative by TAS in collaboration with the Political Committees of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC). Other partners include the Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP) and the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC). The reform aims to guarantee credible, free, and fair general elections in 2027 and beyond, demonstrating the organisations’ commitment to electoral justice and deepening democracy in Nigeria through electoral integrity.
Dr. Amadi emphasized that the initiative focuses not only on the reform of electoral laws but also on a holistic election management system. This approach aims to ensure that different agencies and actors within the electoral management ecosystem, particularly the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), can effectively and fairly execute their legal obligations. The experiences from the 2023 general elections and other off-season elections highlighted the sources of threats to free and fair elections, prompting recommendations for INEC and the judiciary on electoral adjudication to foster integrity and transparency.
The initiative suggests that without reforming the institutional settings and procedures for electoral management, credible and trustworthy elections cannot be guaranteed. The TAS and its partners propose a series of strategic actions to address the issues of electoral integrity in Nigeria, focusing on new procedures and institutional reforms in electoral management, and promoting an electoral jurisprudence that upholds electoral justice.
Amadi also pointed out the need for legislative reforms on the Electoral Act to expand the appointment clause for the chairman of INEC and other commission members. The current practice, where the president appoints the commission’s chairman and members with Senate confirmation, is proposed to change. The Uwais Committee report recommended that the appointment of INEC commissioners should mirror that of judges, involving a competitive process with a body akin to the National Judicial Council (NJC), where the President merely makes a routine appointment from a list submitted to him, subject to review by another body.