Electoral act amendment bill passes through second reading

The Electoral Act Amendment bill on Wednesday, February 7 scaled Second Reading at the House of Representatives.

The Bill titled “A Bill for an Act to amend the Electoral Act, 2022 and for Related Matters,” was sponsored by the member representing Ughelli North/Ughelli South/Udu Federal Constituency, Delta State, Mr Francis Waive.

Presenting the Bill, 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 results would help the nation’s democracy.”

He also called for the review of the voter register every ten years.

“A review of the voter register every 10 years will be a good starting point,” he said.

Some of the key provisions of the Act include:

EARLY RELEASE OF ELECTION FUNDS TO INEC
Section 3(3) of the Electoral Act 2022 provides that funds for general elections must be released at least one year before the election. Under the repealed Electoral Act, No 26, 2010, the disbursement of funds for the elections shall be made in accordance with rules set out by the commission.

EARLY CONDUCT OF PARTY PRIMARIES AND SUBMISSION OF CANDIDATES’ LIST
By virtue of Section 29(1) of the Electoral Act, 2022, political parties shall hold a primary and submit the list of candidates not later than 180 days before the date appointed for a general election. Under the repealed law, submission of a list of candidates shall not be more than 60 days before the date appointed for a general election.

CANDIDATES TO SEEK JUDICIAL REVIEW OF FALSE INFORMATION
Section 29(5) of the Electoral Act 2022 provides that only aspirants who participated in a primary election of political parties can approach the federal high court for review where there are grounds to believe that any information given by his political party’s candidate is false. Under the repealed act, any member of the public can challenge a candidate with a forged certificate. That has now been restricted to only aspirants who participated in primaries wherein the candidate with forged certificates emerged. Members of the public cannot challenge a candidate that submits false information to INEC.