Senate Re-Commits Electoral Bill, 2021, Passes New Amendments

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Senate Re-Commits Electoral Bill, 2021, Passes New Amendments

October 12, 2021

The Senate at its plenary session of Tuesday, 12 October 2021, re-committed certain clauses of the Electoral Bill, 2021 for consideration and passage.

Presenting the motion for re-committal, the Majority Leader of the Senate, Sen. Abdullahi Yahaya (APC: Kebbi) stated that the re-committal of the four clauses- 43, 52, 63 and 97 in the Bill, which deals with Ballot Boxes and Voting Devices, Conduct of Poll by Open Secret Ballot, Counting of Votes and Forms and Nomination of Candidates by Parties respectively, which was earlier passed by the Senate, became necessary after the Committee on INEC raised fundamental issues on the said clauses and its provisions.

It would be recalled that the Senate at its plenary session of Thursday, 15 July 2021, considered the report of its Committee on INEC on the Electoral Bill, 2021 and inserted a new subsection (2) under Clause 52, where it mandated the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to determine the adequacy and security of network coverage for the electronic transmission of results subject to the approval of the National Assembly. This amendment elicited wide public criticism leading the Senate to reconsider the provision.

Sen. Yahaya relying on Order 1(b) and Order 53(6) of the Senate Standing Orders 2015 (as amended) urged the Senate to rescind its earlier decision on the affected Clauses of the Bill and recommit same to the Committee of the Whole. Orders 1(b) and 53(6) states that:

1(b) “In all cases not provided for hereinafter, or by Sessional or other Orders or practice of the Senate, the Senate shall by Resolution regulate its procedure”; and

53(6) “It shall be out of order to attempt to reconsider any specific question upon which the Senate has come to q conclusion during the current session except upon a substantive motion for rescission”.

At the Committee of the Whole, the Senate deliberated on the aforementioned Clauses and approved the new amendments as follows:

Clause 43: Ballot Boxes and Voting Devices

Insertion of the word” Electronic Voting Machine” in subsections (1) and (3).

Clause 52: Conduct of Poll by Open Secret Ballot

Amendment to subsection (2) by substituting with a new subsection which reads” Subject to section 63 of this Bill, voting at an election and transmission of results under this Bill shall be in accordance with the procedure determined by the Commission”; and also, the deletion of subsection 3.

Clauses 63: Counting of Votes and Forms

Amendment to subsection (5) by deleting the word “transmit” and replacingwith “transfer”.

Clause 87: Nomination of Candidates by Parties

Amendment to subsection (1) by substituting with a new subsection which reads “A Political party seeking to nominate candidates for elections under this Bill shall hold direct primaries for aspirants to all elective positions, which shall be monitored by the Commission”
Insertion of new subsection (3) which reads “The procedure for the nomination of candidates by political parties for the various elective positions by direct primaries shall ensure that all aspirants are given equal opportunities of being voted for by members of the party and given opportunity to have agents for the purpose of monitoring the primaries”
Insertion of new subsection (4) which reads “The procedure adopted for the direct primaries shall be spelt out in a guideline to be issued by the political party and filed with the Commission at least 14days before the primary election”
Insertion of new subsection (5) which reads “A political party shall maintain register of its members and provide in the guideline for the conduct of the primaries that the register of its members shall be used for accreditation for the primaries”
Insertion of a new subsection (6) which reads “The Commission shall deploy personnel to monitor the primaries in all the centers where the direct primaries are held”.
Insertion of a new subsection (7) which reads “Every aspirant cleared by the party to contest at the primary shall be entitled to a copy of the guideline not later than 14 days before the conduct of the primaries”
Amendment to subsection (8) by deleting “High Court of a State of FCT”