The Senate on Thursday in Abuja, passed for second reading, a bill seeking to amend the Electoral Act to include use of the card reader in the electoral process.
Passage of the bill, which was sponsored by Senator Tijani Kaura (APC Zamfara North), for the next stage of legislative action, was through of voice vote by the senators.
Leading debate on the bill, Kaura said that there was the need for the Act to be amended in view of the challenges witnessed in the last election, especially with the card reader.
While supporting the bill, Deputy President of the Senate, Ike Ekwerenmadu, recalled that an amendment to the Electoral Act of 2010 was passed by the 7th Senate but was not accented to by the President.
He said that the Act had been amended to accept electoral voting.
Citing the recent case in Kogi where a candidate died after primary election had been concluded, Ekweremadu said it was pertinent for the Act to be amended.
“This is time to liaise with INEC, judiciary and propose a comprehensive review of the Electoral Act and even those electoral issues contained in the Constitution,’’ he said.
Deputy Leader of the Senate, Ibn Na’Allah, however, said that it was not possible for the parliament to see every conceivable lacuna in the Electoral Act that required amendment.
In view of that, he proposed that the amendments be made flexible, saying, “this amendment seeks to validate card reader for elections’’.
“Instead of limiting to the card reader, we could say that INEC shall have power to conduct election using card reader or such other equipment for the purpose of conducting free and fair election.
“So the law must give some flexibility to the electoral body; it is a very noble course and we should support this bill to pass the second reading,” he said.
Also supporting the bill, Sen. Obinna Ogba (PDP Ebonyi Central) stated that the card reader or other amendment was not to favour one region of the country over the other.
He said that judging from previous elections, the card reader seemed to have worked against those in the southern part of Nigeria where a lot of people were disenfranchised by it.
“Whether we like it or not, a great percentage of my people did not vote as a result of this card reader.
“Before we sign such bill into law, we must take into cognisance the persons responsible for handling the problem to ensure there is no such problem in the future,” he said.
However, Senator Foster Ogola (PDP Bayelsa West) opposed the bill, saying it contravened certain sections of the Constitution.
Ogola said that before the Electoral Act could be amended, the Constitution would first be amended, as any amendment made to the Act would be a nullity.
“The Constitution says that any law made that is in contravention with the Constitution is null and void.
“The elections had been going smoothly; INEC conducted election last week, and lack of this new law has not deterred election.
“For this to go, we must first amend the Constitution to provide for the use of electronic voting system.
“I am convinced that this bill should not go for a second reading until the Constitution is amended and I urge my colleagues to ensure that this bill is not passed for second reading,” he said.
Contributing to the debate, Sen. Bassey Akpan said that while he was not against the card reader, it was necessary for it to have been used and perfected before being included in the Electoral Act or the Constitution.
He said that the card reader did not work well in the South, recalling that the machine was unable to verify former President Goodluck Jonathan at his polling unit.
“We had states where the number of accredited voters was equal to the number of registered voters.
“We must be able to get the assurance of INEC that the card reader machines would work; we need to build on it before we make it into our laws as a preference.
“We are interested in it working for the collective interest of the country not for a sectional interest,” he said.
After the passage of bill, the chamber directed its Committee on Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct a public hearing on the issue and report back in four weeks.
In his remarks, President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, directed the committee to go beyond the issue of card reader to also consider all other issues in the Act that would require amendment.
“It is important that we amend the Act now; the longer we delay it, the more difficult it would become.
“Once we start getting into the electoral arena, it becomes more and more difficult,” he said.
Saraki charged the committee to come up with amendments that would be easy to implement so as not to create more `lacuna’ in the electoral process.
Meanwhile, the Senate also passed for second reading, a bill seeking to amend the powers of INEC.
The bill seeks to give INEC power to be able to provide substitutions for candidates in the event of any eventuality after primary election has been concluded.
Sponsor of the bill, Mohammed Shitu, said that it was necessitated in view of the recent occurrence in Kogi where a governorship candidate died before the electoral process was concluded.
