ABUJA – Senate of the Federal Republic yesterday, kick-started amendment to the 2010 Electoral Act. This is coming about thirty-two months to 2019 general elections.
In his keynote address at a Summit On Elections, Senate President Bukola Saraki called for effective end to electoral violence.
He regretted that due to violence, certain seats in the Senate chamber were vacant as elections in the affected senatorial zones were either declared inconclusive or canceled.
“We must stop violence in our electoral process; it does not befit modern Nigeria; we must be able to hold people responsible”, he continued.
The senate president also canvassed the need for Nigeria to go along with science and technology driven world, by empowering the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to go full electronic in the next elections.
In his goodwill message, Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu canvassed early preparation and stagger elections, to avoid unnecessary haste and to save cost respectively.
Earlier in his welcome address, Senate chairman on Independent National Electoral Commission, Sen. Abubakar Kyari, listed objectives of the summit to include to begin early consultations on electoral reform ahead of 2019 General Elections.
The summit is also to obtain professional opinion of practitioners and experts in the field that will feed into an Electoral Act Amendment Bills now before the committee; elicit support of relevant stakeholders on the amendments to the Electoral Act; and to achieve timely and comprehensive amendments to the 2010 Electoral Act.
Other objectives include to: reduce to the barest minimum before and after election litigation; reduce to the barest minimum chances of ambiguity; and have a much more credible and generally acceptable electoral laws.
He declared that it was high time all concerned citizens came together and further build a synergy to better safeguard our democracy from gliding into the doldrums.
“The incidence where a leading died moments before an election result was to be announced; and decision by various courts including the Supreme Court on the leading status of card reader machines are some of the examples of the gaps noticeable in the implementation of our existing Electoral Acts.
