Nigerians in Diaspora may be able to vote in Nigeria’s next
election, Speaker Yakubu Dogara of the House of Representatives, has said.
The revelation came on Monday during a public hearing by the
House committee on electoral and political parties’ matters.
The committee, headed by Hon. Aishatu Jibril Dukku, is
charged with the mandate of examining 12 Bills proposing amendments to the
extant Electoral Act 2010 including a bill seeking to introduce electronic voting in Nigeria.
“The issue of legal framework for electronic accreditation,
Card Reader; Electronic Voting and announcement of Election Results; the place
of INEC Guidelines/ Regulations vis a vis the Procedure for elections contained
in the Electoral Act itself, Diaspora Voting, the role of Political Parties in
the nomination process, etc. are some of the matters that should be settled in
time before the 2019 General Elections”, Dogara said.
He explained to the gathering of civil society and political
parties representatives and delegates from agencies such as INEC, that the
proposed amendments are a direct result of occurrences during the 2015 election
cycle and other circumstances in which the existing legislation proved
inadequate to handle the situation, such as the last gubernatorial election in
Kogi state, where the leading candidate died after voting had commenced, but
before results were announced.
“The twelve Bills before us this morning, seeking to amend
the Electoral Act are a consequence of our election experiences as a nation
including the 2015 General Elections. Experience has shown that good electoral
system governed by an efficient and effective legal framework is an inescapable
prerequisite for the conduct of free, fair and credible election, enthronement
of good governance which will ensure peace and stability in the polity.
“Conversely, it is a globally established fact that a flawed
electoral system is a huge threat to any democracy and can constitute an
invitation to anarchy.
“While we continue to acknowledge the reasonable
improvements recorded during the 2015 general elections in Nigeria where the
ruling political party lost the elections and accepted the outcome of the
process, we cannot pretend that the election was without flaws some of which
bordered on lacunae in the legal framework.
“The case in Kogi State governorship election in which a
candidate died after the ballot but before the declaration of results present a
classical example of such limitations in the Electoral Act, among others, that
require reform in the law”, he said.
He further urged the committee on constitution review to
conclude alterations concerning the Electoral Act before the next election
cycle.
“This Public Hearing is therefore of critical importance in
settling these questions.
“Permit me to use this opportunity also to implore the
Ad-Hoc Committee on Constitution Review to also be guided by the need to
conclude all Constitutional amendments or alterations relating to electoral
matters early enough in order to give the Election Management Body, INEC,
enough time to plan the 2019 General Elections”, he added.
[Daily Post Nigeria]
