A bill to amend the Electoral Act 2022 to require all Nigerians of voting age to cast ballots has passed the House of Representatives’ second reading.
Daniel Ago and the Speaker, Tajudeen Abbas, sponsored the proposed bill. Ago led the discussion during Thursday’s plenary session, stating that the goal was to promote public engagement in the electoral process. He added that if the bill passes legislative review, it would address voter indifference around elections.
Mark Esset, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party from Akwa Ibom State, stated that merely passing legislation making voting mandatory is insufficient to purify the election process, even though the bill passed second reading.
“Let us not put something on nothing. If citizens have lost confidence in the electoral system, there is a lot of work to be done.
“Many Nigerians do not vote during elections because they believe that their votes will not count. If we must make a law to make voting compulsory, we must also make another one to make their votes count,” he said.
Recall that the senate had earlier proposed a legistlation seeking to enforce a six-month jail term or a fine of N100,000 or both as punishment on Nigerians who fail to vote during elections at both national and state levels.
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