• Women groups rally INEC support for Reserved Seats Bill 
• Clergy, not FG, should pick INEC chairman, says Anglican bishop

The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has called on the National Assembly to urgently amend the Electoral Act 2022 to guarantee free, fair and credible elections in Nigeria.
  
This was as women’s advocacy groups visited the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to rallysupport for the Reserved Seats Bill. 
 
Again, the proposal by federal lawmakers that the President should be stripped of the power to appoint the INEC boss has got the backing of the Calabar Diocese Anglican Bishop, Prof Nneoyi Egbe, who said the appointment should be by clergymen and an independent body, not the Federal Government.
  
NBA, therefore, proposes far-reaching reforms that would give full legal backing to the use of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and electronic transmission of results via the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV), among other critical recommendations.
  
At a formal presentation before the House of Representatives Committee on Electoral Matters in Abuja, the Electoral Reform Committee of the NBA, led by its chairman, Dr Monday Ubani (SAN), submitted a detailed memorandum demanding key legislative changes ahead of the 2027 general elections. 
  
The session was presided over by the chairman of the House Committee, Adebayo Balogun, who received the NBA team along with parliamentary clerks from both chambers. 
  
In its submission, the NBA urged the National Assembly to amend Sections 47 and 60 of the Electoral Act to make the use of BVAS for voter accreditation not justa procedural but a mandatory legal requirement. 
  
It also wants BVAS data to be officially recognised as the sole and binding record of voter accreditation in any election. 
  
Further, it called for explicit legal recognition of electronic transmission of results to IReV, warning that failure to do so continues to expose elections to post-poll manipulation and loss of public trust.
  
The NBA also reiterated its longstanding call for the establishment of an independent Electoral Offences Commission. 
  
According to the reform document, the new body should possess prosecutorial powers and be tasked with investigating and prosecuting electoral crimes, including vote-buying, ballot box snatching, violence, and collusion by election officials.
  
To improve logistics and neutrality on election day, the NBA proposed the introduction of early voting for INEC officials, security agents, journalists and accredited election observers. 
  
Meanwhile, the women’s visit was to engage INEC on the Reserved Seat Bill and INEC’s critical role in its successful implementation.
  
The Executive Director, Women in Politics Forum (WIPF), Ebere Ifendu, said the visit was an advocacy, also intended to seek support for the Reserved Seats Bill 
  
Ifendu commended INEC’s gender-sensitive and inclusive policy, urging the commission to take it beyond the establishment.
  
Responding, INEC National Commissioner for Outreach and Partnership, Prof Kunle Ajayi, on behalf of the Chairman, commended the women’s groups for the advocacy visit, welcomed the Reserved Seats idea and pledged the commission’s support.
  
He stated that INEC was a gender-friendly, inclusive organisation, with specific gender policies guiding all actions. 
  
The Reserved Seats Bill #HB1349 would reserve 74 federal and 108 state legislative seats for women across the country.
 
Bishop Egbe gave his view to newsmen on the sidelines of the 2nd Session of the 12th Synod at St Jude’s Anglican, Eke Effiong Nta.
 
He also issued a damning verdict on the state of the nation: “The nation is, in simple words, dead. Laws are not working, institutions are hijacked, and leaders are numb to reality.”
 
The cleric outlined an 11-point recommendation for national rebirth, including: A new constitution, true federalism, elimination of ethnic bias and nepotism, a restructured, independent INEC, merit-based recruitment, and reinforced national borders.