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CSOs To INEC: Fix BVAS, Bar Corrupt Officials From Governorship, State Assembly Polls
Ahead of governorship and state assembly elections, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has been urged to fix all glitches that previously affected the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), the results viewing portal, logistics; and prevent corrupt personnel from being part of the exercise.
INEC had scheduled governorship and state assembly elections for March 11 but announced the postponement of the polls to March 18, 2023, after the court granted the Commission leave to re-configuration BVAS machines used for the February 25 presidential and National Assembly elections.
Civil Society Organisations, Center for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD) and NESSACTION made the call during PUBLIC CONSCIENCE, an anti-corruption radio programme produced by the Progressive Impact Organization for Community Development, PRIMORG, Wednesday in Abuja.
Different observer groups reported widespread malfunctioning of the INEC Result Viewing portal (IREV), which hindered the real-time transmission of results on election day. There were also reports of voter intimidation, snatching and destruction of voting materials, among other issues.
Speaking during the radio programme, Executive Director, NESSACTION, Amb. Eniola Cole stated that the conduct of the February 25 presidential election failed to meet the expectations of Nigerians due to issues with the IREV, political infractions and the integrity of INEC officials.
Cole stressed that INEC must prioritize tackling logistics challenges on election day, noting that the late arrival of election materials during the presidential election spiralled into other challenges that cast doubt on the integrity of the polls. While calling on citizens to ‘cut INEC some slag’ as the 2023 general elections were the first time the election umpire was deploying technology nationally.
She called on Nigerians, especially young people, not to relent in participating in the March 11 governorship and state assembly elections despite dissatisfaction with the conduct of presidential polls.
“On the issue of the IREV, nobody’s expectation was met because they did not deliver. But the question is, is the IREV the only yardstick for determining whether an election was credible? This was a first-time test nationwide. Why is the success or failure of the entire election laid only on the IREV? For the BVAs, the locations we observed, I’m yet to see any of our reports say otherwise.
“Honestly, I think Nigerians should cut them (INEC) some slack. Let’s be careful. We have seen progress. Let us trust and see what they will deliver.
“Another thing that could bring credibility to the process is to enhance what is required. A national stress test was not done on the IREV.
“The integrity of poll officials also comes from political infractions. Somebody that receives bribes should face the penalty, but why are politicians going out to bribe INEC officials? Can that also should be addressed,” Cole lamented.
On his part, Research Officer at the Center for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD), Humphery Eze Ukeaja, called on INEC to learn from their mistakes and recover public trust by ensuring punishment is meted out to all officials that were part of the irregularities that marred the 2023 presidential elections. As well as fix glitches from BVAS, IREV and security.
Ukeaja urged all Nigerians to come out and vote despite their unhappiness with the election process.
“INEC must learn from the mistakes of what happened in the 25th February presidential election. Reports are all over for them to read; security and logistics, the BVAS issues should be addressed purely going into state elections.
“When we talk about renewing trust on the part of INEC, we have to see actions. We have to see heads roll. We have to see people being penalized for us to regain their trust because most of them participated in the malpractice.
“Someone has to pay for the malpractices. To be sincere, the level of apathy might show in the March elections, but the wounds are still fresh. It will take a little bit of a medium-term to a long-term effort to bring people back,” Ukeaja stressed.
INEC continues to face criticisms from CSOs, and foreign and local observers since it announced the presidential candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, Senator Bola Tinubu as the winner of the presidential election.
Earlier on Wednesday, London-based independent policy institute Chatham House released an analysis of the February 25 Presidential and National Assembly elections and faulted the Prof. Yakubu-led Commission for being ill-prepared and jettisoning its guidelines.
Public Conscience is a syndicated weekly anti-corruption radio program used by PRIMORG to draw government and citizens’ attention to corruption and integrity issues in Nigeria.
The program has the support of the MacArthur Foundation.
Business
Tax Reform Bills: The Verdict of Nigerians

Ismaila Ahmad Abdullahi Ph.D
The public hearings conducted recently by the two Chambers of the National Assembly have elicited positive responses from a broad spectrum of Nigerians, cutting across regional interest groups, government agencies, civil society groups, concerned individuals, the academia, and Labour Unions, among diverse others. Contrary to a few dissensions hitherto expressed in the media, almost all the stakeholders who spoke during the week-long sessions were unanimous in their declaration that the hallowed Chambers should pass the tax reform bills after a clean-up of the grey areas.
The public hearings were auspicious for all Nigerians desirous of economic growth and fiscal responsibility. They were also a watershed moment for the Federal Inland Revenue Service, which had been upbeat about the tax reforms. Indeed, the public hearings had rekindled hope in the tenets of democracy that guarantee freedom of expression and equitable space for cross-fertilisation of ideas. Without gainsaying the fact, the tax reform bills have been unarguably about the most thought-provoking issues in Nigeria today, drawing variegated perspectives and commentaries from even unlikely quarters such as the faith-based leaders, student bodies, and trade unions, which speaks much about the importance of the bills.
In the build-up to the public hearings, not many people believed that the bills would make it to the second reading, much less the public hearings. Even the Northern stakeholders who seemed unlikely to support the passage of the bills have softened their stance and have given valuable suggestions that would enrich the substance of the bills. The Arewa Consultative Forum came to the public hearings well-prepared with a printed booklet that addressed their concerns. It concluded with an advisory that the bills should be “Well planned, properly communicated, strategically implemented and ample dialogue and political consensus allowed for the reforms to be accepted.”
The concerns of ACF ranged from the composition of the proposed Nigeria Revenue Service Board as contained in Part 111, Section 7 of the bill, the unlimited Presidential power to exempt/wave tax payment as proposed in Section 75(1) of the bill, the family income or inheritance tax as contained in Part 1, Section 4(3) of the bill, to the issues around development levy and VAT. On the development levy, the ACF stated that unless the Federal Government is considering budgetary funding for TETFUND, NASENI and NITDA, it does not see the “wisdom behind the plan to replace (them) with NELFUND”.
The position of the North was equally reinforced by the Supreme Council for Shariah in Nigeria, Northern Elders Forum, Kano State Government, Professor Auwalu Yadudu, and the FCT Imams. Like the ACF, these stakeholders lent their respective voices to the Section on the Inheritance Tax in Part 1 of the bill and the use of the term ‘ecclesiastical’, which, in their views, undermines certain religious rights and beliefs. The Kano State Government, represented by Mahmud Sagagi, affirmed that “we support tax modernisation” but cautioned that “we must ensure that this process does not come at the expense of states’ constitutional rights and economic stability”. Professor Auwalu Yadudu, a constitutional law professor, drew attention to the use of the ‘supremacy clause’ and cautioned that the repeated use of “notwithstanding” in the bills would undermine the supremacy of the Nigerian constitution if passed as such.
Other stakeholders that made contributions at the sessions included the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas, Fiscal Responsibility Commission, Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission, Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria, Nigeria Customs Service, and a host of others. While most of their concerns bordered on technical issues requiring fine-tuning, they were unanimous in their support for the bills. They aligned with the position of the Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service, Zacch Adedeji, Ph.D. and the Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, Mr Taiwo Oyedele, which is that the extant tax laws and fiscal regulations are obsolete necessitating reforms aimed at creating a fair and equitable tax and fiscal space to grow Nigeria’s economy.
In one of the sessions, Dr Zaach Adedeji expounded on the criss-cross of trade activities in the Free Trade Zone whereby companies misuse tax waivers as exporters to sell their goods or services in the Customs Area at an amount usually less than the price the operators in the Customs Area who pay VAT and other taxes sell theirs thereby disrupting business transactions. This way, the operators in the Free Trade Zone shortchange the government in paying their due taxes by circumventing extant regulations, which are inimical to the economy’s growth.
Overall, the presentations were forthright, foresighted, and helpful in elucidating the issues contained in the bills. According to the statistics read out at the end of the hearings at the Senate, 75 stakeholders were invited, 65 made submissions, and 61 made presentations. At the House of Representatives 53 stakeholders made presentations. By all means, this is a fair representation. Given the presentations, it is evident that the National Assembly has gathered enough materials to guide its deliberations on the bills. As we look forward to the passage of the bills, we commend the leadership of the National Assembly for their unwavering commitment to making the bills see the light of the day.
Abdullahi is the Director of the Communications and Liaison Department, FIRS.
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