The Independent National Electoral Commission has supported an amendment to the Electoral Act 2010 proposed by the House of Representatives seeking to limit the participation of the military in future elections in the country.
The Commission’s Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega, said this during public hearing organised by the House of Representatives Committee on Electoral Matters on a bill to amend the Electoral Act 2010.
Speaking at the public hearing, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Aminu Tambuwal, said the bill was to ensure a level playing ground for all participants in future elections in the country.
It could be recalled that the National Assembly had in its proposed amendment sought the insertion of a new paragraph (b) in the Section 29(1) of the Electoral Act to limit the roles of the military to “securing the distribution and delivery of electoral materials.”
Speaking on the insertion of the new paragraph and other proposed amendments, Jega said giving the commission the statutory power to manage security forces during elections would help to sanitise the nation’s electoral processes.
Jega said it was the practice in many countries around the world that electoral bodies were given the power of management of security forces during elections.
He said: “On the insertion of a new Section 29 (1) (b) to empower INEC to control security agencies at election time, there are a few countries that are doing this because they feel it is good practice.
“In fact, in some of the countries, the entire management of the security forces in the period of the election are given to the electoral management body.
“We did not recommend this because people are already accusing us of taking too much power. But if other stakeholders agree with this recommendation, it would help sanitise the electoral process.”