Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) has said that Nigeria electoral Act does not reflect what the country really deserve in terms of having an election that would be credible and reliable.

It advised the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to learn conduct of the just concluded Liberia elections, adding that the Liberia election was a lesson for Nigeria.

The National Chairman of IPAC, Yabaji Sani, who disclosed this in Abuja at the press briefing on the outcome of Liberia’s October 10 Presidential election called on the National Assembly to commence amendment of the Electoral Act of 2022 (as amended).

Recall that the IPAC observer mission team from Nigeria was in Liberia for the country’s 11th October general election.

Sani said, “That is why most of the cases were pre-election cases arising from the primaries conducted by political parties; parties were moving back and forth with INEC on some of the provisions.

“The 2022 Electoral Act does not reflect what this country really deserves in terms of having an election that will be credible and reliable.”

He further said the insinuation created by the report that the litigations trailing the elections was an indication or a sign of failure of INEC was also not correct.

“The lesson that we learnt is that patriotism and national purpose are important ideals to cultivate in citizens. That was responsible for the orderly manner that characterized the election.

“We didn’t see the sign of use of money, there was no violence and intimidation by law enforcement agencies because there was nothing like that in some units and elections were orderly. So, perhaps I think we have something to learn from there.

“There was an impressive turnout which was driven by a sense of patriotism commitment to the national purpose. And we saw that youth were more in number.”

He said that the National Assembly members should rather be blamed for creating a lot of ambiguities in the 2023 Electoral Act which made INEC and politicians victims.

According to him, “The list of voters and their pictures were displayed on the walls of the areas where the polling units were located. Also, the pictures of each contestant and his or her name were on the ballot papers, unlike in Nigeria.

“While this looks good, considering the high number of contestants and ever-changing list of candidates due to court orders, this may not be an option for our country for now.”