Reps to prioritise electoral reforms – Gbajabiamila
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, says the
house will hit the ground running in terms of electoral reforms.
Mr Gbajabiamila made the promise while receiving the European Union
Election Observer team on Nigeria and ECOWAS in Abuja on Tuesday, a
statement by the Speaker’s aide, Smart Olanrewaju, said.
“Nigeria is ready to always follow International best practices. I
commend the fact that there has been improvement in Nigerian electoral
process but more needs to be done.
“Parliament will hit the ground running in terms of electoral reforms as
the process of elections is before, during and after the elections.
“Election is the bedrock of any democracy and there is the desire to get
the process right,” he said.
The speaker commended EU for the tremendous job done all over the
world, particularly in Nigeria.
He said the reeled out recommendation would be looked into and that
parliament would look into how to domesticate the recommendation as
laws.
Mr Gbajabiamila expressed gladness for the partnership of the EU and
sought collaboration on e-Parliament which was one of the intended
reforms of the 9th Assembly.
He assured the union of the parliament’s readiness to work closer to
achieve the best results possible for the Nigerian people.
He promised to ensure continued harmonious working relationship
between Nigeria and the EU.
Earlier, the head of the delegation, Ketil Karlsen, said the EU had a great
deal of respect for the parliament of Nigeria.
Mr Karlsen said it was of great importance for continuous engagement
between Nigeria’s parliament and the union.
He said the union would continue to lean on the leadership of
parliament to increase the relationship between Nigeria and the EU
which was the biggest development partners of Nigeria.
He said all member nations of the union were strong individual partners
of Nigeria and were determined to ensure that Nigerians did not suffer
negativity while in the partnership.
The head of the delegation said that the union was ready to continue to
support in investment and wealth creation in Nigeria.
“The team has been in Nigeria for a long time before, during and after
the elections and the EU has provided over 100 Million Euros to ensure
Nigeria is supported from the angle of the affairs of government,
parliament and civil society.
“We seek to encourage the national dialogue and consensus as doing
things late can risk jeopardising the much needed reform process. We
also seek more opportunities for mutual development,” he said.
The Deputy Chief Observer, Hannah Roberts, said there were
improvements relating to elections in Nigeria.
Ms Roberts, however, said there were still some shortcomings to work on
as the union had delivered the final reports with 30 recommendations
for reform in future elections.
She said it was not practical to leave electoral reforms close to election
time as there would be no time for proper implementation.
According to her, among the recommendations made, a lot were made in
the last election, out of which seven are critical.
“They are, ensuring a more robust way to check results of polls, stronger
transparency in voting process, better operational reform on the part of
INEC.
“There is also need for more security coordination between the different
relevant agencies,” she said.
Ms Roberts said the involvement of women in the electoral process was
low as Nigeria seemed to be at the bottom in female participation in
politics in Africa.
The observer said the Election Tribunals should also cover election
processes so that they could be adequately informed when handling
petitions after the election process.
She said there was need for improvement of the process used to issue the
licenses for media covering election processes in order to get the
required divergence.
(NAN)
house will hit the ground running in terms of electoral reforms.
Mr Gbajabiamila made the promise while receiving the European Union
Election Observer team on Nigeria and ECOWAS in Abuja on Tuesday, a
statement by the Speaker’s aide, Smart Olanrewaju, said.
“Nigeria is ready to always follow International best practices. I
commend the fact that there has been improvement in Nigerian electoral
process but more needs to be done.
“Parliament will hit the ground running in terms of electoral reforms as
the process of elections is before, during and after the elections.
“Election is the bedrock of any democracy and there is the desire to get
the process right,” he said.
The speaker commended EU for the tremendous job done all over the
world, particularly in Nigeria.
He said the reeled out recommendation would be looked into and that
parliament would look into how to domesticate the recommendation as
laws.
Mr Gbajabiamila expressed gladness for the partnership of the EU and
sought collaboration on e-Parliament which was one of the intended
reforms of the 9th Assembly.
He assured the union of the parliament’s readiness to work closer to
achieve the best results possible for the Nigerian people.
He promised to ensure continued harmonious working relationship
between Nigeria and the EU.
Earlier, the head of the delegation, Ketil Karlsen, said the EU had a great
deal of respect for the parliament of Nigeria.
Mr Karlsen said it was of great importance for continuous engagement
between Nigeria’s parliament and the union.
He said the union would continue to lean on the leadership of
parliament to increase the relationship between Nigeria and the EU
which was the biggest development partners of Nigeria.
He said all member nations of the union were strong individual partners
of Nigeria and were determined to ensure that Nigerians did not suffer
negativity while in the partnership.
The head of the delegation said that the union was ready to continue to
support in investment and wealth creation in Nigeria.
“The team has been in Nigeria for a long time before, during and after
the elections and the EU has provided over 100 Million Euros to ensure
Nigeria is supported from the angle of the affairs of government,
parliament and civil society.
“We seek to encourage the national dialogue and consensus as doing
things late can risk jeopardising the much needed reform process. We
also seek more opportunities for mutual development,” he said.
The Deputy Chief Observer, Hannah Roberts, said there were
improvements relating to elections in Nigeria.
Ms Roberts, however, said there were still some shortcomings to work on
as the union had delivered the final reports with 30 recommendations
for reform in future elections.
She said it was not practical to leave electoral reforms close to election
time as there would be no time for proper implementation.
According to her, among the recommendations made, a lot were made in
the last election, out of which seven are critical.
“They are, ensuring a more robust way to check results of polls, stronger
transparency in voting process, better operational reform on the part of
INEC.
“There is also need for more security coordination between the different
relevant agencies,” she said.
Ms Roberts said the involvement of women in the electoral process was
low as Nigeria seemed to be at the bottom in female participation in
politics in Africa.
The observer said the Election Tribunals should also cover election
processes so that they could be adequately informed when handling
petitions after the election process.
She said there was need for improvement of the process used to issue the
licenses for media covering election processes in order to get the
required divergence.
(NAN)
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