House of Representatives [Twitter/@SpeakerGbaja]
The bill has been referred to the Committee on
INEC and Political Party Matters for further
legislative actions.
A bill for an Act to repeal the Electoral Act and
enact the Independent National Electoral
Commission Bill, 2020, on Tuesday passed second
reading in the House of Representatives.
The bill is to regulate the Federal, States and Area
Councils Elections and other related matters.
The bill which sought to reform electoral processes
in the country, was sponsored by Rep. Aishatu
Dukku (APC-Gombe).
Leading the debate, Dukku said that the bill sought
to make provisions for restriction and qualification
for elective office to relevant provisions of the
Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,
1999.
She said that it sought to give legal backing to the
use of card readers and other technological devices
during general elections and party primaries.
The Rep said that the bill when passed into law,
would provide a timeline for the submission of lists
of candidates and criteria for substitution of
candidates.
According to her, it will address limit of campaign
expenses, and address the omission of names of
candidates or logo of political parties.
"This amendment has become necessary because of
the flaws observed in our electoral system.
"It's no longer news that our electoral experiences
since 1999 show a strong correlation between an
efficient and effective electoral legal framework and
the conduct of free, fair and credible elections.
"In fact, amendments of our electoral laws were long
identified as priority legislation by the National
Assembly because of the need to consolidate on the
gains of our democratic achievements and to also
address the lacuna identified in the electoral legal
framework.
✕
"A typical example is the case of the Kogi
Governorship election in 2016, where a leading
candidate died after the commencement of polls but
before the declaration of results.
"In addition to this are concerns that the legal
framework on certain issues should be well settled
ahead of the 2023 elections such as the use of
technological devices like the card reader and
electronic voting system.
"Also, criteria for substitution of candidates,
disclosure of source of funds contributed to political
parties, replacement of lost or destroyed permanent
voters card, penalty for the possession of fake
voters' card, dates for conducting primary elections
shall not be earlier than 150 days and not later than
120 days before the date of election, etc.
"The bill, therefore, seeks to address many
loopholes in our electoral system by way of
amending over 300 clauses (including new
provisions) of the Electoral Act 2010," she said.
Dukku said that Section 3(2) (a) of the existing Act
provided definite timeline for the release of funds to
INEC for the discharge of its statutory duties.
According to her, the amendment is an insertion
which states that the funds for General Elections
shall be released to the Commission not later than
180 days to the date appointed for the elections.
Dukku said that the bill stated that when an election
had began and there was substantial evidence of
disruption in a polling unit or threat to peace and
security, INEC should suspend the election and
appoint another date for the continuation of the
election.
She said Section 30 which provides for notice of
election was amended to state that "substitution of
candidates in a by-election except where a candidate
of a political party in a by-election dies, the party
shall submit to the INEC the name of its substitute
candidate within 48 hours of the death of the
candidate in the form prescribed by the commission.
"Section 36 (1) under death of a candidate is
amended as follows: if after the time for the delivery
of nomination paper and before the commencement
of the poll, a nominated candidate dies, the Chief
National Electoral Commissioner shall, being
satisfied of the fact of the death, countermand the
poll in which the deceased candidate was to
participate and the commission shall appoint some
other convenient date for the election within 14
days.
"And a new subsection (3) is provided, thus: if after
the commencement of polls and before the
announcement of the final result and declaration of
a winner, a candidate dies, the commission shall,
being satisfied of the fact of the death, suspend the
election for a period not exceeding 21 days.
"The political party whose candidate died may, if it
intends to continue to participate in the election,
conduct a fresh primary within 14 days of the death
of its candidate and submit the name of a new
candidate to the commission to replace the dead
candidate," she added.
The Minority Leader of the House, Rep. Ndudi
Elumelu (PDP-Delta), said that the amount of money
required to pick a form and contest election should
be reduced to make room for the common man to
participate.
He said that the house should not allow money to
exclude egg heads who could contribute to national
development but does not have funds.
The Rep said that when people spent so much to
win elections, they would be more concerned about
how to regain the amount spent than good
governance.
Rep. Babajimi Benson (APC-Lagos) drew the
attention of the house to a section that said where
number or votes cast exceeded accredited voters,
elections might be cancelled and rescheduled for
another date.
He said that the word “may” should be replaced
with the word “shall” to ensure that nobody was
disenfranchised under any guise.
Also, Rep. Jide Jimoh (APC-Lagos) said that the
section which said INEC "may" use any electronic
device in the conduct of elections should read
"shall" to ensure uniformity and prevent court
actions.
In his ruling, the Speaker of the House,
Rep. Femi
Gbajabiamila , referred the bill to the Committee on
INEC and Political Party Matters for further
legislative actions.
Electoral Act Amendment Bill passes 2nd reading in the House of Reps » Hottest
»
Gists’s »
Trending
@ @ @
Do you want to be notified of new song releases?
Click to follow us on Facebook now!