BREAKING NEWS: Tinubu committed to transparent 2027 elections — Speaker Abbas

Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, says President Bola Tinubu is committed to making the 2027 general elections significantly more transparent than the 2023 polls.

Speaking in Abuja on Thursday while receiving a delegation from the European Union, Abbas said the National Assembly is already working on amending the Electoral Act 2022 to enhance credibility and transparency in future elections.

His remark is on the heels of criticisms and observations from international observers regarding the 2023 general elections in Nigeria.

“I want to acknowledge that the leadership of the country under President Bola Tinubu,  is very committed to ensuring that we improve on our electoral processes, particularly regarding the observations made (by international observers) in the 2023 election,” Abbas said.

“We in the national assembly have also been busy working to gather as many issues as possible, arising from the last elections, so that we can see how we can legislatively address them so that our next election will be more transparent, acceptable, and in alignment with international standards.”

Abbas said the Senate and House of Representatives leadership met last week to resolve differences on the proposed amendment.

“We agreed that because of some of the amendments that we want to bring forth — some are by way of act of parliament, some are by constitutional amendment, we will fast track and isolate the electoral issues and take them as one, single entity; and push them forward for the national assembly to deliberate and take a position; and then send them to the sub-nationals (state houses of assembly) to also consider them within a short timeframe, between now and December,” he added.

Abbas said the house is “very serious” about the electoral reforms, adding that some of the constitutional amendment proposals include reserved parliamentary seats for women and persons with disabilities (PWDs), a constitutional role and financial autonomy for traditional rulers, and a single-day national election.

“Like the single-day election, it is to hold the election of the president, national assembly membership, governorship, and state house of assembly membership elections on the same day.

“In our own thinking, it will help to reduce our electoral process, particularly on the turnout of voters.”

Abbas asked the EU delegation to assist the national assembly in advocacy and publicity, noting that houses of assembly must concur with the national assembly on the reforms.

“We will do all the needful as far as legislation is concerned to enable INEC to have all the necessary tools and provisions to make the 2027 election much better than the 2023 election,” he added.

Barry Andrews, leader of the delegation and member of the EU parliament, commended the house for working to improve the nation’s democracy.

The delegation included Gautier Mignot, EU ambassador to Nigeria and ECOWAS; Ralph-Michael Peters, election expert; Eirini-Maria Gounari, election legal expert; Maros Gabriel, election administration expert; Laolu Olawumi, programme manager, Democracy and Rule of Law; and Osaro Odemwingie, political adviser.

Nigeria’s 2023 general elections were among the most closely watched in the country’s democratic history, marking the seventh successive poll since the return to civilian rule in 1999.

Despite the successful conduct of the elections, several domestic and international observer missions, including those from the European Union, ECOWAS, and civil society groups, raised concerns about issues such as logistical failures by INEC, including the late arrival of materials and officials, technical glitches with the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), and result transmission.