ABUJA – Mr Kolawole Banwo, Senior Programme Officer, Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), Abuja, said the delay in amending the Electoral Act 2010 had hindered the actualisation of justice in the electoral process.
He told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday that “the amendment of the Electoral Act, 2010 by the National Assembly which is supposed to be ongoing is still inconclusive”.
Banwo said that the amendment would strengthen the electoral processes by making it more credible, transparent and tighten the loose ends.
He added that the loose ends made it easy for those involved in malpractice and rigging of election in the country to get away with their crimes easily.
“The amendment is also expected to provide sanctions and punishment. These are some of the issues we are discussing with them.
“We know that time is short; the 2015 general elections are almost at hand and we are becoming pessimistic.
“We are engaging in election issues from three components, the legislations which is our core focus at the moment as we are still challenging the electoral act as it is.
“The other aspect is the election itself and this involves preparation toward the election.
“As a non-governmental organisation, we do not work directly on the election process, but we report on activities at the collation point called situation room.”
[eap_ad_2] Banwo urged the electorate to maximize their voting rights by questioning candidates seeking their mandate to occupy elective offices on their manifestoes.
He said the electorate should know that “it is their right to raise issues on promises being made by the candidates seeking elective office”.
The programme officer urged the electorate to task their candidates either at local government or state level by asking them what they would do for the people when elected into office.
“We want to remind federal and state legislators of their promises to the people during their campaign.
“Although as an organisation, we cannot be everywhere, we try to replicate what we are able to do.
This is one of the constraints we face in our effort to get candidates to keep to their promises to the people. (NAN)
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