By Samuel Solomon
Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar has said the ongoing voter registration exercise would only be meaningful with far-reaching electoral and judicial reforms.
He said electoral and judicial reforms were undertaken to ensure electoral integrity, strengthen public confidence, and promote judicial independence.
According to Atiku, in a statement he signed, ‘’The enthusiasm of Nigerians in the ongoing continuous voter registration for PVCs as commendable and indicative of the commitment of Nigerians to take their destinies in their hands in choosing their leaders in the next elections cycle.”
Atiku, a chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), said it was not just enough to demand that eligible voters registered for their PVCs.
‘’It is pertinent that far-reaching electoral and judicial reforms are undertaken to ensure electoral integrity, strengthen public confidence, and promote judicial independence.
‘’Over time, the quality of our elections has continued to depreciate with voter turnout at an all-time low during the 2023 elections. Of the total 93.47 million registered voters, only 24.9 million persons voted in the last presidential and National Assembly elections.
“This represents a meagre 26.72 per cent voter turnout, the lowest since the return to democracy in 1999. Something needs to be done to check this slide if citizens are to continue to have an appetite for the democratic processes and the prospects that it holds.
“The issues of BVAS, electronic transmission, and all other associated issues need to be addressed to the extent that they’re constitutionally provided for in order not to leave it to the whims and caprices of judges.
“There should be an amendment in the 2022 Electoral Act, providing for: First, mandatory use of BVAS for accreditation of voters and upload of election results from all the polling units and collation centres across Nigeria without any provision for discretion to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for manual accreditation of voters.
“Second, mandatory electronic transmission of election results from the polling units to the iREV without any provision for discretion to the Independent National Electoral Commission for manual transmission of election results.
“Third, collation of results at the Ward Collation Centers on the basis of the results already electronically transmitted to the iREV from the polling units without any provision for manual collation of results at the Ward Centers.
“Fourth, collation of results at the Local Government or Area Council Collation Centers on the basis of the results already electronically transmitted to the iREV from the Ward Collation Centers without any provision for manual collation of results at the Local Government or Area Council Centers.
“Fifth, collation of results at the State Collation Centers on the basis of the results already electronically transmitted to the iREV from the Local Government Collation Centers without any provision for manual collation of results at the State Center.
“Sixth, collation of results at the National Collation Center on the basis of the results already electronically transmitted to the iREV from the State Collation Centers without any provision for manual collation of results at the National Council Center.
“Seventh, at no point shall manual accreditation of voters, transmission of results, and collation of results be allowed.
“Eight, the position of the Chairman of INEC, Resident Electoral Commissioners, and the National Electoral Commissioners shall be subjected to a democratic voting by the people.
“Ninth, INEC to prove substantial compliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act and the Constitution in the conduct of the election in an election petition and not the petitioner,’’ he stated.
Meanwhile, Atiku has handed over one of his houses in Yola to the ADC as its Adamawa State Secretariat.
The house in question, which is located at a choice area in Jimeta, near famous Mubi Roundabout, once served as Adamawa State Secretariat of the PDP and remained in PDP colours up to the time it was handed over to ADC.
The allocation of the personal property for the use of ADC has come as part of the latest significant moves of Atiku towards making the ADC a major party in Adamawa State.
He made one of his boldest statements about his inclination towards the ADC last month when he resigned from the PDP and was quickly followed by the defection of high profile associates of his into the ADC.
