YERP Naija seeks electoral reforms to stop president appointing INEC chair

The Youth Electoral Reform Project (YERP Naija), a coalition of youth-focused civil society organisations (CSOs), has called for electoral reforms ahead of the next general election.

Speaking at a press conference in Abuja on Thursday, Bukola Idowu, national coordinator of YERP Naija, said the 2022 Electoral Act should be amended to ensure mandatory electronic voting and transmission of results.

Idowu said the power to appoint the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) chairman should be vested in an independent committee rather than the president to ensure electoral integrity.

Section 154(3) of the 1999 Constitution empowers the president to appoint the chairman of INEC.

She expressed concerns about the national assembly’s delay in reforming the Electoral Act ahead of the 2027 elections.

Idowu said a 2024 countrywide survey by the YERP Naija campaign showed that youths were dissatisfied with the 2023 elections due to challenges, including voter suppression and the failure to transmit results in real time.

She said without free, fair and credible elections, a major pillar of democracy, youths would be further alienated from the electoral process during the 2027 elections.

“The YERP Naija campaign calls on the national and state assemblies to provide opportunities for young people to be heard during upcoming constitutional and electoral reform public hearings and other relevant processes,” she said.

“We equally call on young people across the country to actively participate in these processes in order to influence the changes they hope to see.

“Youth represent 40 percent of Nigeria’s 93,469,008 registered voters and must be involved in shaping the elections in our country.”

Idowu said the YERP-Naija campaign conducted a countrywide survey, 12 youth forums, and multiple harmonisation sessions across the six geopolitical zones to identify Nigerian youth’s priority recommendations.

She said the consultations engaged over 4,000 youth in the 36 states and the federal capital territory (FCT), culminating in adopting 87 recommendations, which were further refined to 25.

Idowu said the top five recommendations include mandatory electronic transmission of election results to ensure real-time transparency and credibility, transfer of the president’s executive powers to appoint INEC chairman and national commissioners to a special non-partisan committee to create a level playing field for all contestants, and the conclusion of post-election petitions before inauguration to ensure fairness and protect democratic integrity.

Others include amending the Electoral Act to clarify nonstop, continuous voter registration and PVC collection and establishing an electoral offences commission to investigate and diligently prosecute electoral crimes independently.

Idowu called on the national and state assemblies to pass these recommendations to “give Nigerians the elections we deserve”.

She asked youths to actively participate in the upcoming national assembly public hearings, saying the engagements provide a critical opportunity to shape the trajectory of democracy and ensure citizen-led governance reform.

YERP-Naija, a non-partisan youth-led electoral reform campaign comprising civil society organisations across six geopolitical zones, receives support from the National Democratic Institute (NDI).

The coordinators for the six geopolitical zones who attended the event were Zigwai Ayuba (north-west), Ashraf Tukur (north-east), Abimbola Aladejare-Salako (south-west), Nonso Orakwe (south-east), and Israel Orekha (south-south).