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The Uwais Report REPORT OF THE ELECTORAL REFORM COMMITTEE VVOOLLUUMMEE 11 MMAAIINN RREEPPOORRTT DECEMBER 2008 TABLE OF CONTENTS CONTENTS Table of Contents . i Transmittal Letter . ii Acknowledgment and Appreciation . ix List of Tables . xiii List of Figures . xiv Abbreviations and Acronyms . xv Structure of the Report . xxi Chapter 1: Introduction . 1 Chapter 2: Executive Summary . 19 Chapter 3: Review of Nigeria’s History with General Elections . 76 Chapter 4: Legal Framework for Electoral Reform . 112 Chapter 5: Role of Institutions, Agencies and Stakeholders in Shaping the Quality and Credibility of Elections . 142 Chapter 6: Review of Electoral Systems Relevant to Nigeria’s Experience . 201 Chapter 7: Sanitizing Nigeria’s Electoral System . 232 Chapter 8: General Recommendations . 248 Annexures … 254 i His Excellency Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, GCFR President, Federal Republic of Nigeria State House Abuja SUBMISSION OF THE REPORT OF THE ELECTORAL REFORM COMMITTEE Your Excellency will recall that on the 28th August, 2007, you set-up a 22-member Electoral Reform Committee to “examine the entire electoral process with a view to ensuring that we raise the quality and standard of our general elections and thereby deepen our democracy”. The Committee was given twelve months to complete its assignment. However, due to unavoidable delays at the beginning, and the large number of memoranda received at the public hearings, the Committee was unable to meet this deadline, and it was compelled to seek for, and obtain, Your Excellency’s kind approval for extension from September – December, 2008. 2. In order to carry out this assignment effectively, the Committee consulted widely with individuals, institutions and governments. The Committee sought for and received a total of 1466 memoranda from the general public. The Committee also held public hearings in two capital cities in each of the six geo-political zones and the Federal Capital Territory during which a total of 907 presentations were made. Although the Committee shunned overseas travel as a matter of principle, it benefitted from foreign expertise by inviting for interaction, experts from Botswana, Cameroun, Canada, Cote D’Ivoire, France, Ghana, India, Lesotho, Mexico, Niger Republic and South Africa. The Committee interacted with former Heads of State and ii Presidents to benefit from their wealth of experience in election matters. The Committee also consulted other stakeholders including State Governments, Political Parties, National Independent Electoral Commission, State Independent Electoral Commissions, Security Agencies, Civil Society Groups, Women Organisations, the Media and the General Public. 3. Having reviewed Nigeria’s history with problematic elections along the lines specified in its Terms of Reference, the Committee has established that the lack of independence of the Electoral Commissions at both the Federal and State levels is a key deficiency of our electoral process. Accordingly, the Committee has made appropriate recommendations to address the focal issues of the composition, administrative autonomy and funding of the electoral commissions. The Committee has also made recommendations to improve the performance of various institutions and stakeholders in the electoral process. These include the Legislature, Judiciary, Executive, Political Parties, Security Agencies, Civil Society Organisations, Media and Nigerian citizens. The Committee has found that election mindsets are one of the critical elements that determine the success of electoral practices, and the election mindsets of Nigerians are not only largely negative; they are also largely irrational. Appropriate recommendations have therefore been made to change the election mindsets of Nigerians in order to minimise violence and rigging in elections and build lasting democratic institutions and culture. 4. The Committee has examined the strengths and weaknesses of our present electoral process in relation to electoral best practices in countries similarly placed as Nigeria, and made appropriate recommendations aimed at promoting greater inclusiveness and minimizing both pre- and post-election tension. 5. Some of the recommendations in this Report require changes in existing electoral procedures, reallocation of electoral functions or creation of new institutions. Where such changes require new legislation or amendments to existing laws, the Committee has prepared appropriate drafts of the required iii legislation, in order to facilitate and speed-up the implementation process. The draft legislations which are annexed to the Main Report are:­ (i) Draft of a Bill for an Act to Amend the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999; (ii) Draft of a Bill for an Act to Amend the Electoral Act, 2006; and (iii) Draft of a Bill for an Act to Establish the Electoral Offences Commission. 6. The Report of the Committee is structured into the following six volumes: Volume I: Main Report Volume II: Memoranda (22 Parts) Volume III: Analysis of Public Hearings Volume IV: Verbatim Report of Public Hearings (13 Parts) Volume V: Reports of Retreats (2 Parts) Volume VI: Appendices (2 Parts) 7. The Committee is firmly convinced that the acceptance and implementation of the recommendations contained in this Report will significantly restore credibility in the electoral process and usher in an era of free, fair and credible elections in the country. 8. We thank Your Excellency most sincerely for giving us this opportunity to serve our nation. We have the pleasure to inform you that the Committee has now completed its work and is hereby submitting its final report. h ULk:s. Hon. Justice Muhammadu lawai Uwais, GCON .......,.............................. Former Chief Justice of Nigeria Chairman iv I~ D Alh. Ahmadu Kurfi, OFR Retired Federal Permanent Secretary and Former Chief Electoral Officer of the Federation Member Prof. A. Bolaji Akinyemi Former Minister of Foreign Affairs Member Hon. Justice Godwin U. Ononiba Former Chief Judge of Anambra State Member Alh. Musliu A. K. Smith, CFR Former Inspector-General of Police Member Mr. Olisa Agbakoba, OON, SAN, FCIArb Former President, Nigerian Bar As~ociation Member Dr. Sheikh Ahmed Lemu, OON, OFR Former Grand-Khadi of Niger State Member v I~ + II Prof. Attahiru M. lega, OFR Vice Chancellor Bayero University Member Prof. Grace A. Alele-Williams, OFR Former Vice Chancellor University of Benin Member Chief Mrs. Toyin Olakunri, OFR /~...........ru~ Former President Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria Member Dr. librin Ibrahim Associate Professor and Director Centre for Democracy and Development Member Prof. Okon E. Uya, FNAL, FHSN, FCPA, FABI Former Chairman National Electoral Commission And former Ambassador to Argentina Member vi I~ :;i91 Ij b\ b \. I l; ~ , Prof. Gambo Laraba Abdullahi, OON ..!.V~........... Former Minister of Women Affairs Member Mr. Ndanusa O. Alao, FNGE, MNIPR, MiiCA Managing Director, New Nigerian Newspapers Ltd Member . ;;;;) Mr. John E. Odah, mni ~...............-----.:::=:::::::"....... General Secretary Nigeria Labour Congress Member Hajiya Dije J. Bala, mni Former Permanent Secretary Niger State Member Maj. Gen. Oladayo Popoola (Rtd), OFR, mni ................~~ Former Military Governor Oyo and Ogun States Member '- ~;, \-~~~ Dr. Stephen Dike " I. • .......-i -•• I ... I •• I I •• I ... I I. 11 •• 1 Chairman Advanced Management and Technology Solutions Limited Member vii /r' ~ I Prof. Abdulhameed A. Ujo Dean Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Abuja and former Resident Electoral Commissioner Kaduna State Member Mr. Festus Okoye National Publicity Secretary NBA and Chairman Transition Monitoring Group Member Alh. Aliyu Umar ' •• 11 ••• 11 ••••••••••••••••••••~. , ••••• Former Secretary National Electoral Commission Member Msgr. Matthew Hassan Kukah ........~.~ Former Secretary-General Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria and Vicar-General Archdiocese of Kaduna Member Prof. Philip T. Ahire Director, Political Affairs Office The Presidency Secretary viii Ir" ~I ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND APPRECIATION In the course of its work, the Committee received valuable support and assistance from individuals, institutions and governments. We gratefully acknowledge the significant contributions made by our former Heads of State and Presidents who, either through the submission of memoranda or physical interactions, offered the Committee useful insights by sharing their wealth of experience on election matters. 2. The Committee would like to thankfully acknowledge the audience granted to it by the Senate President, Distinguished Senator David Mark, GCON and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Right Honourable Dimeji Bankole, CFR. The Committee is also pleased to acknowledge receipt of a memorandum from the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Honourable Justice Idris Kutigi, GCON. The Committee was also received in audience, during its countrywide public hearings, by the following distinguished traditional rulers: a) His Eminence, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III, CFR, mni, the Sultan of Sokoto b) HRM, Omo N’Oba N’Edo Uku Akpolokpolo, CFR, Oba Erediauwa III, the Oba of Benin c) HRM, Oba Rilwan Akiolu, CFR, mni, the Oba of Lagos d) HRH, Igwe Onoro, Chairman, Enugu State Council of Traditional Rulers e) HRH, Alhaji (Dr.) Mustapha El-Kanemi, CFR, the Shehu of Borno f) HRH, Alhaji (Dr) Ado Bayero, CFR, LLD, JP, the Emir of Kano g) HRM, Oba Samuel Odulana, CFR, the Olubadan of Ibadan h) HRH, Ndidem Thomas Ika Ika Qua III, Ndidem of the Quas ix i) HRH Alhaji Aliyu Modibbo Mustapha,
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