From JIDAUNA YANUNG, Abuja
The House of Representatives has passed for second reading a bill to amend the 2022 Electronic Transmission of results and make it mandatory .
The amendment is also a bid to minimise fraud in the nation’s electoral process. The bill was sponsored by the member representing Ugheli North/South/UDI Federal Constituency of Delta State, Hon Francis Waive. The bill is titled, “A bill for an Act to amend the Electoral Act 2022 and for Related Matters. “. The bill seeks to amend selected sections of the current Electoral Act to provide for the re-registration of voters, as well as punishment for frivolous election petitions. In his lead debate on the general principle of the bill, Hon Waive lamented the gaps in the Electoral Act 2022, noting that an amendment of the law to pave the way for the electronic transmission of election results would help the nation’s democracy.
He also argued that a review of the voter register every 10 years would be a good starting point.
The proposed legislation seeks to amend Section 10 of the Principal Act by providing for a new Subsection (3) that states that “Without prejudice to the provisions of this section and subject subsection (2), every 10 years, INEC shall carry out a re-registration of all eligible voters in preparation for the next general elections.
