The Bill for an Act to Amend the Independent National Electoral Commission Act, 2010 (HB 1544) has been read for the second time and referred to the Committee of the Whole for further legislative action.
The Bill was read for the first time on Tuesday 11th October 2018 in the House of Representatives after a similar bill (HB 1425) passed by the National Assembly on the 24th of July 2018 was refused assent by the President on grounds of irregularities and drafting issues.
Leading the debate at the plenary session of Tuesday, 16 October 2018, the sponsor of the Bill, Hon. Aishatu Jibril Dukku (APC: Gombe) stated the highlights of the Bill to include:
- Amendment of section 36 (3) to further qualify the language in the event a nominated candidate dies after the commencement of an election or before the announcement of a result;
- Amendment of Section 49(3) of the Principal Act dealing with the failure of Smart Card Readers deployed for accreditation of voters;
- Amendment of Section 87(12) of the Principal Act dealing with the conduct of primaries for political parties;
- Amendment inserting Section 87(14) of the Principal Act dealing with the date for the conduct of political party primaries;
- Amendment of Sections 91(1), (9) and (10) of the Principal Act dealing with the limitation on election expenses;
- Amendment of Section 140(5) of the Principal Act dealing with Ballot Papers; and
- Inclusion of a new clause 51A dealing with a situation where the nomination of an elected candidate is nullified by the court.
Hon. Dukku stated that the Bill, if passed, would improve Nigeria’s electoral processes. However, contributing to the motion Hon. Ossai (PDP: Delta) observed that some of the provisions of the Bill were not very clear and that there was need for further deliberations to clarify the purpose of the amendment and ensure the Bill’s objectives are attained. It can be recalled that members of the Senate also raised this issue when the senate version of the Bill scaled second reading in the Senate on Wednesday,10th October 2018.
The Speaker clarified that certain clauses of the Bill are still being worked on and that the Bill will be re-presented for consideration at plenary on Wednesday, 17th October 2018.
