As Nigeria approaches the final quarter of 2025, the National Assembly is racing against time to conclude and pass critical amendments to the Electoral Act and the 1999 Constitution. These reforms are expected to lay the legal foundation for the 2027 general elections. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Voting on proposed amendments to the\nConstitution now looks likely to take place in the last quarter of 2025 \u2013 one\nquarter behind the earlier promised timeline. Both Committees on Constitution\nReview and Electoral Matters are however working to hold National Public\nhearing in July ahead of the summer recess.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One of the most contentious aspects of the proposed amendments to\nthe Electoral Act is the newly passed amendment that seeks to criminalize\nnon-participation in elections. While the intent is\nto boost civic engagement and increase voter turnout, critics argue that this\nprovision infringes on individual freedoms protected by the Constitution. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Section 14(2)(c) of the 1999 Constitution provides that “the participation of the people in their government shall be ensured in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution<\/em>.” However, compelling citizens to vote may conflict with the fundamental rights enshrined in Chapter IV of the Constitution. Chapter IV of the Constitution guarantees fundamental rights, including freedom of thought, conscience, and religion (Section 38), freedom of expression (Section 39), and freedom of association (Section 40). The decision to vote\u2014or not to vote\u2014falls squarely within the domain of personal conscience and civic freedom. Criminalizing abstention risks breaching these protected liberties. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Globally, countries that enforce compulsory\nvoting, such as Australia and Belgium, typically include opt-out mechanisms or\nimpose only symbolic fines. Nigeria\u2019s proposal, as it stands, lacks such\nsafeguards, and its enforceability remains questionable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Efforts to increase voter turnout should focus on removing barriers\nto participation\u2014such as failure of government to deliver on campaign promises,\ndeclining living conditions, security concerns, poor voter education, and\nlogistical failures\u2014not coercion. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n As the National Assembly works toward its Q4 2025 deadline\nfor electoral and constitutional reforms, the House of Representatives has shown\nboth legislative activity and pronounced restraint. In a May plenary session,\nthe House rejected at least six constitution amendment bills, including\nhigh-profile proposals on the rotation of the presidency among the six\ngeopolitical zones and the removal of INEC\u2019s power to regulate political\nparties. These rejections, which mostly stemmed from concerns about\nconstitutional conflict, administrative feasibility, or procedural errors,\nreflect deepening caution within the legislature as it navigates a politically\nsensitive review process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The failed bills also included proposals on expanding\nfiscal oversight at the local level, judicial remuneration, and the\nestablishment of new local government areas. While some of the bills may be\nreintroduced due to bundling irregularities, the breadth of dismissals signals\na legislature hesitant to entertain far-reaching constitutional change. Critics\nwithin the chamber argued, for example, that the rotational presidency bill\nrisked entrenching regional divisions and undermining merit-based leadership,\ndespite its stated aim to promote equity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n PLAC welcomes the National Assembly\u2019s commitment to\nconcluding the constitutional and electoral reform process in 2025. However, we\nurge lawmakers to resist the temptation to prioritize expedience over\nsubstance. The reforms must reflect not only a convergence of political\ninterests, but a deeper commitment to constitutional order, public\naccountability, and participatory governance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As Nigeria approaches the final quarter of 2025, the National Assembly is racing against time to conclude and pass critical amendments to the Electoral Act and the 1999 Constitution. These reforms are expected to lay the legal foundation for the 2027 general elections. Voting on proposed amendments to the Constitution now looks likely to take […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1598,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3862","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/placng.org\/Legist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3862","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/placng.org\/Legist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/placng.org\/Legist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/placng.org\/Legist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/placng.org\/Legist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3862"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/placng.org\/Legist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3862\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3870,"href":"https:\/\/placng.org\/Legist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3862\/revisions\/3870"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/placng.org\/Legist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1598"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/placng.org\/Legist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3862"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/placng.org\/Legist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3862"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/placng.org\/Legist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3862"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}