INEC demands power to bar candidates � Gives six-month notice for party merger� Pegs campaign donation to N2m
Sam Akpe, Abuja
Only the Independent National Electoral Commission will have the power to clear or disqualify candidates for elections, if the draft Electoral Bill 2004 is passed into law by the National Assembly.
The bill, presented by INEC to the assembly two weeks ago, provides in Section 38(1) that no court may, on the basis of intra-party dispute, cancel any election timetable or disqualify any candidate that the commission has cleared.
Under the proposed law exclusively obtained by our correspondent, no individual or group can lawfully donate more than N2 million to any political party.
There was no ceiling on such donations in the existing law.
The draft bill, if enacted, seeks to replace the existing Electoral Act 2002, which is itself a revised version of an Act passed by the National Assembly in 2001.
Another fresh provision is the increase in the number of days allowed political parties to submit the list of their candidates.
As against 60 days stipulated in the Electoral Act 2002, the draft bill allows 120 days.
But our correspondent observed a few vital omissions in the proposed law, despite assurances by the Chairman of INEC, Dr. Abel Guobadia, that Nigeria will have a perfect electoral law if the draft was passed.
No time limit has been specified, for instance, for the disposal of election petitions by the courts.
The draft bill also fails to state in specific terms, who is authorised, by law, to conduct security checks on candidates � whether political parties as currently obtains, or INEC.
Section 38 (1) of the proposed law says, �No interim, interlocutory or any other order, decision or judgment by any court or tribunal after the commencement of this Act, in respect of any intra-party or inter-party dispute or any other proceedings or matter pertaining to an election under this Act, shall affect the candidature of any person cleared by the commission to contest an election or the timing of an election, under this Act.�
Perhaps the most radical change proposed by the draft bill is the ceiling on funds that each political party can receive from candidates and donors, and how much can be spent as election expenses.
Election expenses involve monies spent by a political party from the date notice is given by the commission to conduct an election, up to, and including the polling day in respect of any particular election.
In the existing Act, election expenses by a party is fixed at the amount determined by multiplying N20 with the number of names appearing on the final voters� list for each constituency where there is a candidate sponsored by the political party.
But in the draft bill pending before the National Assembly, it is the sum determined by multiplying N10 with the number of names appearing in the final voters� list for each constituency where there is a candidate sponsored by the party.
Political parties that violate the provision would pay a fine of N1 million, instead of N500,000 currently stipulated.
In a marked departure from the existing Act, the draft bill bars any individual or other entities from donating more than N2 million to a political party.
Political parties are also mandated to keep records of monetary or other forms of contributions received, and the addresses of the donors if such gifts exceed N100,000.
Section 102, subsection (4) states, �Every political party procuring the election of a candidate shall, within three months after the announcement of the results of the election, file a report of the contributions made by individuals and entities to the commission.�
In respect of the disposal of election petitions by the courts, the draft bill is not significantly different from the existing law. It leaves the time frame for the process open-ended.
In the event of a candidate being disqualified from contesting election, the proposed law makes no provision for such a disqualification to be challenged in court by those affected, as provided for in the existing Act.
Where a candidate swore to a false affidavit, the draft bill only states that the political party would pay a fine of N500, 000. But it does not say what the fate of the candidate who made the false declaration would be other than being disqualified from contesting that election.
President of the Senate, Chief Adolphus Wabara, had said while receiving the draft bill that it was only in Nigeria that election petitions were still entertained by the courts, two years after the presumed winner had been sworn in.
He said most state governors and lawmakers, both at the state and federal levels, were still unsure of their fate as courts were yet to decide on petitions filed against them since 2003.
But a study of the draft bill shows that INEC has merely repeated an aspect of the old Act, as there is no specific provision mandating the courts on when to dispose of the petitions before declared winners are sworn in.
Section 159 of the draft bill merely urges accelerated hearing by the courts, and the need for election petitions to have precedence over all other matters.
The section states that, �Without prejudice to the provision of Section 294 sub-section 1 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, (1999), an election petition and an appeal arising therefrom under this Act shall be given accelerated hearing and shall have precedence over all other cases or matter before the tribunal or Act.�
A lawyer at the National Assembly said perhaps the commission was conscious of, and did not want to offend the provisions of Section 294 (1) of the 1999 Constitution.
The section states that every court shall deliver its decision in writing within 90 days after the conclusion of evidence, and furnish all parties with authentic copies of the decision within seven days of the delivery of the ruling.
Another aspect of the draft bill with much ambiguity is the issue of the screening of candidates presented by each political party for election.
While Wabara had suggested that the commission, using the instrumentality of the various security services, should screen each candidate, the new bill is silent on the matter.
Section 37 simply says that political parties shall submit lists of candidates for election, accompanied by sworn affidavits of each candidate showing that he has fulfilled all constitutional requirements.
It also provides that INEC shall within seven days publish particulars of each candidate in a constituency, and that any person with reasonable grounds to fault the information would be expected to petition the commission.
Subsection 5 states, �If the commission determines that any information contained in the affidavit is false, the commission shall disqualify the candidate from contesting the election.�
The draft bill also requires parties intending to merge to give a six-month notice of their intention.�
Section 90, subsection (2) states, �Political parties intending to merge shall each give to the commission six-month notice of their desire to do so before a general election.
