Elections moment of rediscovery, not to kill or manipulate results – Former Bayelsa Gov, Dickson

Former Bayelsa State governor and member of the Senate Committee on Electoral Matters, Seriake Dickson, has called for a fundamental reform of Nigeria’s electoral framework to strengthen transparency and accountability in the conduct of elections.

Dickson, a member of the Senate Committee on Electoral Matters, said this on Thursday during an interview on Arise Television monitored by DAILY POST.

He called for a fundamental reform of Nigeria’s electoral framework to strengthen transparency and accountability in the conduct of elections.

The lawmaker urged electoral reforms to make INEC accountable, saying candidates can’t prove what only the commission controls

The ex-governor stated that one of the key proposals under discussion in the ongoing amendment of the Electoral Act is to ensure that the burden of proof in election disputes rests with the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, rather than with candidates or political parties.

“Elections should be moments where we rediscover ourselves as a nation and celebrate what is best about us, not moments where people kill, maim, or write non-existent figures to win without the people’s mandate.

“The burden of proof in electoral matters must shift to INEC. That is where it rightly and properly belongs. We should not subject it to the normal evidential rule that says, he who alleges must prove,” he said.