Jibrin Abubakar and Aliyu Machika
1 February 2007
Abuja — A top lawyer with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), yesterday said free and fair elections will not happen until the constitution is amended to ensure that the commission is truely independent.
The commission's head of legal services department, Barr. Oluwale Osaze Uzzi, yesterday said the way the commission's chairman is appointed needs to be changed and called into question the commission's independence and funding.
Barr. Uzzi said the organisation has been "considerably weakened" by new legislations and called for urgent constitutional amendments regarding the electoral laws to ensure credible elections in future.
Addressing members of the media at Le Meridien Hotel, Barrister Uzzi said: "An examination of the 2006 Act will reveal that there are many other identified areas requiring urgent reform of the electoral process which have not been addressed."
The issues that need changing are the composition of the commission, the appointment of the chairman and members of the commission and the funding of the commission.
He said the independence of the commission needs to be examined,as well as the time limit for the hearing and determination of election petitions.
Meanwhile INEC has forwarded the names of candidates seeking elective offices to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The submission of the list of names came after requests from the EFCC, National Commi-ssioner in charge of Information and Publicity Committee, Dr. Mohammad Abubakar Jumare, said yesterday.
He asid: "We sent the names of the contestants to them if they request for them.'
Asked when INEC sent the names of the contenders, Dr. Jumare said, 'Yes recently. They requested for the names and we sent it to them.'
He said the names have also been sent to the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offence Commission (ICPC), as well as the State Security Service (SSS).
Dr Jumare did not say the reason why the anti-graft agencies requested the names, but added that it is "routine and normal".
He said INEC on its own does not send the names of candidates to the security agencies but that it is based on request.
"There is no law compel-ling INEC to forward any name to the EFCC, SSS or ICPC," he said.
But the ICPC denied they have received any names from INEC. A spokesman said the agency responded to peti-tions from the public, not names on a list.
Asked whether EFCC and INEC are working together, he said there is no direct working relationship between the duo.
He said: "We are an electoral body and they are a law enforcement agency".
Dr. Jumare added that the ICPC or the EFCC cannot prosecute or stop candidates, adding that only the court has that power.
'Whatever the EFCC or ICPC findings are, they have to depend on the courts,' he added.
Last year, EFCC chairman, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, had vowed that no corrupt politi-cian will rule Nigeria again.
On Tuesday, INEC exten-ded the voter registration exercise to Friday to enable more Nigerians put their names on the e-register.
This is the second exten-sion after the first from Decem-ber 14, 2006 to January 30, 2007 which ended yesterday.
The Electoral Act states that registration of voters must end 120 days before the polls.
According to section 10(5) of the Electoral Act, 'The registration of voters, updating and revision of the register of voters under this section shall stop not later than 120 days before any election covered by this Act.'
The general elections however starts April 14 to April 21 this year.
According Dr. Jumare, INEC has, 'consulted the hierarchy of the National Assembly before arriving at the decision.'
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