SERAP also urged him \u201cto promote constitutional and legal reforms that would contain explicit mandatory provisions on internet voter registration, and the use of modern technology, including in casting and counting, voter registration and systems for reporting results.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the letter dated 28 October 2023 and signed by SERAP deputy director Kolawole Oluwadare, the organisation said: \u201cThe explicit recognition of the right to vote and to vote securely would improve the right to representative democracy in the country.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
SERAP said, \u201cThe continuing resistance by politicians to bring the country\u2019s electoral legal rules up to date with modern technology, and make the use of technology mandatory in our electoral process is entirely inconsistent and incompatible with Nigerians\u2019 right to effectively participate in their own government.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to SERAP, \u201cLarge-scale election infrastructure insecurity poses serious threats to the fundamental right to vote that INEC can no longer ignore. The challenges facing the electoral process can be addressed by a swift adaptation and innovation in both election laws and election technology.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The letter, read in part: \u201cDemocracy works best when everyone participates. Legally enforceable right to vote is the bedrock of any democratic society. The right to vote and to vote securely is too important to be left to the whims of politicians.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cConfidence in the electoral process is on the decline. Many Nigerians are expressing concerns about the credibility and integrity of the electoral process.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNigerian politicians have little incentive to pursue genuine constitutional and legal reforms that would improve the exercise by Nigerians of their right to participation in the electoral process and in the mechanisms of government.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cINEC has constitutional and statutory responsibilities to promote and advance the right of eligible Nigerians to vote and to vote securely as part of their internationally recognized right to political participation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cUnder section 2(b) of the Electoral Act 2022, the commission \u2018shall have power to promote knowledge of sound democratic election processes.\u2019 INEC also has the constitutional mandates to take the recommended measures under Section 153 of the Nigerian Constitution and paragraph 15(a) of the third schedule.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cINEC has the mandates to promote, protect and facilitate the exercise of the right to vote and to vote securely as a fundamental right. Exercising such mandates would rebuild public confidence in the ability of the commission to effectively perform its responsibilities and to act in good faith.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe major problem facing the country\u2019s democracy is the lack of respect for Nigerians\u2019 right to participation and the concomitant lack of trust in election results. If citizens do not believe in the election process, then the entire system of democratic government becomes a questionable enterprise.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe explicit recognition of legally enforceable fundamental right to vote and to vote securely in free, fair and honest elections would protect the right to participation, safeguard and strengthen the credibility and integrity of the country\u2019s democracy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt would rein politicians who continue to abuse the electoral rules to distort and undermine the right to participation with almost absolute impunity. It would also amplify the voices of the people, not corrupt politicians, and modernize and secure the country\u2019s future elections against any threats.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe country\u2019s electoral legal rules are entirely inconsistent and incompatible with the requirements of the right to political participation, which is explicitly guaranteed under article 25 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and article 13 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples\u2019 Rights which Nigeria has ratified.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe right to vote and vote securely would also impose clear obligations on the electoral commission and other authorities to ensure the \u2018will of the people\u2019 in elections, and to administer elections in an objective and neutral manner, and in conformity with modern technology.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe crisis confronting Nigerian elections and lack of public trust and confidence in the electoral process can be addressed if the right of Nigerians to vote and to vote securely is explicitly recognized as justiciable constitutional right.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNigerians do not currently enjoy explicit and enforceable right to vote and to vote securely. As the 2023 general elections have shown, the absence of this right in the Nigerian Constitution 1999 [as amended] has seriously undermined the right of Nigerians to effectively participate in their own government, and the credibility and integrity of the electoral process.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAlthough the Nigerian Constitution provides in Section 14(1)(c) that, \u2018the participation by the people in their government shall be ensured in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution\u2019, this is not recognized as legally enforceable fundamental human right.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cUnless INEC urgently begins the process of pushing for the explicit recognition of Nigerians\u2019 right to vote and to vote securely, politicians would continue to use the country\u2019s antiquated electoral legal rules for personal gain, and to deny the people their right to participation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe would be grateful if INEC begins the process of taking the recommended measures within 7 days of the receipt and\/or publication of this letter. If we have not heard from you by then, SERAP shall consider appropriate legal actions to compel INEC to comply with our requests in the public interest.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSERAP notes that ahead of the 2023 general elections, INEC disclosed that over seven million Nigerians who carried out their voter pre-registration online but could not complete the process at physical centres would not be entitled to vote.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe right to vote and to vote securely as well as the right of the people to expect representative government through the process of elections is basic to democracy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWithout the explicit constitutional recognition of the right to vote and to vote securely as a fundamental right, millions of Nigerians would continue to be denied their right to participate in their own government.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe Nigerian Constitution and Electoral Act are grossly inadequate to guarantee citizens\u2019 right to political participation which encapsulates the right to vote and to vote securely. Our electoral legal rules are based on a set of archaic notions that do not serve the core function of participation and a representative democracy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe African Charter on Human and Peoples\u2019 Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), and the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance explicitly assert the right to vote as part of the fundamental right to participate in democracy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cArticle 25 of the Covenant, article 13 of the African Charter and articles 2, 3 and 4 of the African Charter on Democracy contain provisions on the right to participation. Nigerian electoral laws ought to be such that would give effect to the voters\u2019 will and uphold the popular mandate through free, fair, and honest elections.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe right to vote in a democracy is important because so many other matters depend upon its exercise. Nigeria ought not to be stuck with electoral rules, structures and procedures that violate basic ideas of participation, fairness and representative government.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has urged Professor Mahmood Yakubu, the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) \u201cto use the mandates of INEC to pursue constitutional and legal reforms that would ensure explicitly recognize Nigerians\u2019 right to vote and to vote securely in free, fair and honest elections as a fundamental right.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3345,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[4156,4146,4163,4225,4141],"class_list":["post-12109","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-analysis","tag-current-news-in-nigeria","tag-news-analysis","tag-nigeria","tag-nigerian-newspapers","tag-serap"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/modusoperandum.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/SERAP-1.jpg?fit=727%2C465&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/modusoperandum.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12109","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/modusoperandum.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/modusoperandum.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modusoperandum.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modusoperandum.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12109"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/modusoperandum.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12109\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12110,"href":"https:\/\/modusoperandum.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12109\/revisions\/12110"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modusoperandum.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3345"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/modusoperandum.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12109"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modusoperandum.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12109"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modusoperandum.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12109"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}