The Electoral Act should be amended to allow voters, domestic observers or other election stakeholders to file election petitions.

All election related disputes should be determined before the assumption of office of those elected. Consideration should therefore be given to amending the Constitution in order to provide a more realistic timeframe between the date of the election and the inauguration into office.

Civil penalties and administrative actions should be applied by INEC against those who have not complied with the electoral legislation.

Particular attention should be paid to establishing and enforcing appropriate mechanisms for appeals against decisions related to inaccuracies in the voter register, the refusal of nomination of candidacy and the de-certification of candidates before and after an election.

The Electoral Act should be amended to specifically indicate where a complaint must be lodged in the first instance and in what circumstances a complaint may be submitted directly to INEC. Clear information should be provided to the public about the process and, in particular about how to make a complaint or appeal effectively.

The Electoral Act should be amended to ensure secrecy of the vote for tendered ballots.

The Electoral Act 2006 should be amended to ensure the voting rights of all disabled and institutionalised people including those in hospital as well as soldiers, security personnel and prisoners.

INEC should ensure that voting booths are distributed in sufficient time to all polling stations and all polling staff are trained to erect them and fully implement all procedures designed to ensure secrecy of the vote.

INEC should ensure that the Manual for Election Officials should be available in each polling station and followed closely.

Civil society organisations should further improve their capacity to observe the entire electoral process. International support should be directed towards strengthening civil society, particularly with respect to lobbying and advocacy activities.

The right of domestic observers to observe the entire election process should be guaranteed by law.

The Freedom of Information Bill should be adopted and duly implemented to provide a higher degree of transparency and accountability of public sector.

State-owned media should be given greater editorial independence. This could be facilitated through the concept of public service broadcasting, the introduction of which is strongly recommended to guarantee principles of public interest and editorial integrity. At minimum, the appointment of managerial staff at federal and state broadcasters should be reviewed so as to create independence from the government in power.

NBC’s structure should be modified in order to foster its institutional, functional and financial independence. NBC should have sufficient resources to be able to guarantee that the media cover elections according to the principles of fairness, balance and impartiality.

The NBC should ensure publicly funded media distribute an equal allocation of free airtime to Parties and Candidates competing in an election in order to ensure equity of coverage for all.

Regulations should be developed by the legislature to provide proportional access to radio and television for Parties and Candidates competing in elections, not only stipulating fair and equitable coverage, but also providing a framework where these provisions are guaranteed. In cases where candidates and parties purchase airtime for their advertisements and coverage of their rallies these programmes should be clearly signposted as such.

The Electoral Act should be amended to include more detailed regulations prohibiting the abuse of state resources during an election period.

The scope of immunity provisions that apply to the President and Vice President should be reviewed with the aim of removing blanket immunity.

Indictment as a ground for disqualification should be reviewed in the light of potential for abuse and victimisation of political opponents. Appropriate checks and balances should be introduced to prevent such political victimisation.

The Electoral Act should be amended to ensure that persons cannot be excluded from standing for election by unreasonable or discriminatory requirements such as level of education.

An accurate list of polling stations, including locations and the number of registered voters, should be made available to political parties and observers in a timely manner.

Political parties should be provided with copies of the voter register in a timely manner and, in order to ensure accountability and transparency, a full breakdown of figures should be published.

After the public verification period, INEC should undertake all necessary corrections and again display the voter register at voter registration centre level. Permanent voter registration cards should be issued once the process has been concluded well in advance of the local government elections.

As a matter of urgency, INEC should start work to improve the current voter register, removing double registration, under age entries, entries without pictures and other shortcomings. This should be undertaken with a view to ensuring public and political confidence at all stages of the process.

Infringement of laws and regulations concerning the funding of political parties and electoral campaigns should be subject to effective, proportionate and dissuasive sanctions. Greater steps should be made by INEC and the relevant prosecuting authorities to initiate criminal proceedings for serious violations.