2027: INEC makes fresh call on Electoral Act

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The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has urged the Nigerian government to clarify the recently amended Electoral Act to make it easier for voters to understand.

Professor Joash Amupitan, the Chairman of INEC, clarified that Nigeria requires a straightforward piece of legislation concerning the Electoral Act, crafted in plain language so that all Nigerians can easily comprehend it.

At a citizens’ town hall meeting in Abuja on Sunday, organized by the Civil Society Network on Election Integrity and the Electoral Act, Prof. Amupitan issued the call.

The INEC Chairman has issued this call in the midst of a debate about the real-time transmission of election results. He emphasized that this issue needs clarification, given Nigeria’s significant diversity—particularly in its political and electoral contexts.

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.”

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