Mike Igini, a lawyer and former Resident Electoral Commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has stirred conversation around what he termed “dangerous” provisions in the recently amended Electoral Act, a move which, according to him, poses a threat to the credibility of the 2027 general elections, news.ng reports.
According to Igini, who spoke on Arise Television on Wednesday morning, some of the provisions enshrined in the Electoral Act could pave the way for electoral manipulation and potentially send a dangerous signal in future elections.
He said, “I found that whereas the last intervention we had here, we’re discussing about section 60, subsection 3, where the Pope provided a proviso that would undermine the 2027 official elections, I have now found a more dangerous three provisions.
“And I put them out so that I think that Nigerians can read it, they can see it before any comment.”
He noted Section 63, which reintroduces a questionable provision that allows the approval of ballot papers without INEC security features, adding that this could enable politicians to manufacture fake ballot papers.
According to him, “First, let’s go to section 63. Now, section 63, which I just discovered, they have now reintroduced something very terrible.
“You can see it there, that ballot paper that will be used for the 2027 election, that does not bear the official security features of INEC, should be accepted by presiding officer. You can read it there, that where the returning officer satisfied, the word satisfied, that was contained in section 49 of the 2010 act that took us 20 years until 2022 to repeat, to remove, because what is the objective condition to determine what satisfy a presiding officer? The presiding officer has now been given the discretion to now accept ballot paper, notwithstanding the absence of the official mark, and to cut that ballot paper. What that means is that before this election, politicians who now have access to the security features of INEC ballots, they are going to produce their ballot papers.
“They are going to print their own ballot paper that have to be accepted. This is dangerous, as put in the electoral act.
You may recall that one of the challenges of the conduct of elections by INEC is rigging of the exercise. Igini discovered that, in the Electoral Act, actions contrary to INEC guidelines cannot be used as a ground for filing in court.
“Similarly, may I show section 138, not 138, let’s go to section 138. Section 138 has been one of the rigging provisions that we have cried out to be removed. As a matter of fact, you remember that in 2019, in this current republic, under Buhari was the only time that there was no electoral act passed, because when we made that recommendation, that this thing should be removed, this section should be removed, you remember that it was rejected. And what the section says, grant a filing petition.
“It says that an act or omission, which may be contrary to the instruction or directive of the commission, or of an officer appointed for the purpose of election, but which is not contrary to the provision of this act, shall not of itself be a grant for questioning the election,” he stated.
Also, in Section 137 of the Act, as observed by the former INEC Commissioner, it confuses the prosecution of electoral offenders, whereby the provision makes it invalid in election petitions to involve INEC officials who are accused of misconduct.
“Complaints of the conduct of an electoral officer, a presiding officer, returning officer, it shall not be necessary to join such officer, that is, those who have disobeyed to follow INEC instruction and guidelines, that it shall not be necessary to bring them to the commission,” he stated.
Based on these observations, Igini concluded that the provision was designed to sabotage the conduct of elections in the country.
“This provision that I have outlined, particularly, it means that at the level of the balloting, it has been sabotaged,” he said.
