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The National Assembly is considering amendments to the Electoral Act which will likely include the conduct of all elections in one day.
House of Representatives Speaker Abbas Tajudeen, who gave the assurance yesterday, hinted that Presidential, gubernatorial, national, and state House of Assembly elections might be held on the same day should the bill be passed and assented to by the President.
He spoke when a delegation of the European Union Election Observation follow-up mission to Nigeria’s 2023 general election visited him in Abuja yesterday.
The Barry Andrews-led delegation also visited Headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), where it chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, warned that delay by the lawmakers in amending the Electoral Act 2022 could hamper preparations for the 2027 general election.
The delegation, which has been in the country for about three weeks to study the level of implementation of the recommendations contained in its report after the 2023 general election, also interfaced with the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP).
Abbas, in a statement by his Press Secretary, Leke Bayeiwu, told the EU team that its reports on the 2023 polls were being considered in the ongoing electoral and democratic reforms by the National Assembly.
Abbas said: “I want to acknowledge that the leadership of the country under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is committed to ensuring that we improve on our electoral processes, particularly regarding the observations made (by international observers) on the 2023 elections.
“We in the National Assembly have also been busy working to gather as many issues as possible, arising from the last elections, so that we can see how we can legislatively address them; so that our next election will be more transparent, acceptable and in alignment with international standards.”
He told the team that a recent joint Senate and House of Representatives leadership meeting resolved to isolate electoral amendment issues and accelerate their consideration and passage.
He allayed fears about the timeliness of the reforms.
He said: “We agreed that because of some of the amendments that we want to bring forth – (some are by way of Act of Parliament, some are by constitutional amendment) we will fast track and isolate the electoral issues and take them as one, single entity; and push them forward for the National Assembly to deliberate and take a position; and then send them to the sub-nationals (state Houses of Assembly) to also consider within a short timeframe – between now and December.”
Reassuring that the Parliament was “very serious” about electoral reforms, Abbas said the National Assembly was proposing new initiatives, including reserved parliamentary seats for women, reserved parliamentary seats for Persons With Disability (PLWDs), a constitutional role and financial autonomy for traditional rulers, a single-day election, among others.
He explained that it was the thinking of many members of the National Assembly that a single-day election would not only improve efficiency and transparency in electoral conduct but also reduce costs by almost 40 per cent.
He said: “Like the single-day election, it is to hold the election of the president, National Assembly membership, governorship and state House of Assembly membership elections on the same day.
“In our own thinking, it will help to reduce our electoral costs to as much as 40 per cent if we can hold the elections within a day. It will also improve transparency and increase efficiency, particularly on the turnout of voters.”
The Speaker, however, urged the EU to assist the National Assembly in the area of advocacy and publicity, especially at the subnational level.
“One takeaway from this meeting is to take the assurance from me and my colleagues that we will not be late. We will do the needful as far as legislation is concerned to enable INEC to have all the necessary tools and provisions to make the 2027 election much better than the 2023 election,” he said.
Leader of the delegation, Andrews, who earlier wished the Speaker a happy 60th birthday, thanked him for working with the EU on different policies.
The Speaker, however, urged the EU to assist the National Assembly in the area of advocacy and publicity, especially at the subnational level.
“One takeaway from this meeting is to take the assurance from me and my colleagues that we will not be late. We will do the needful as far as legislation is concerned to enable INEC to have all the necessary tools and provisions to make the 2027 election much better than the 2023 election,” he said.
Leader of the delegation, Andrews, who earlier wished the Speaker a happy 60th birthday, thanked him for working with the EU on different policies.
Source: The Nation.
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