WorldStage– The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Abbas Tajudeen, has stated that President Bola Tinubu is committed to electoral and democratic reforms ahead of the 2027 general election.
Abbas disclosed some of the amendments to be made to the Electoral Act and the 1999 Constitution by the National Assembly to aid credibility and efficiency in the conduct of elections in Nigeria.
The Speaker made this known when he hosted a delegation from the European Union in Abuja on Thursday.
The delegation included a Member of the European Parliament and Chief of Mission, EU Follow Mission, Mr Barry Andrews; EU Ambassador to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Mr Gautier Mignot; Election expert and Team Lead, Mr Ralph-Michael Peters; Team Leader, EU Delegation, Ruben Alba Aguilera; Election legal expert, Ms Eirini-Maria Gounari; Election administration expert, Mr Maros Gabriel; Programme Manager, Democracy and Rule of Law, EU Delegation, Ms Laolu Olawumi; and Political Adviser, Osaro Odemwingie.
The Minority Whip of the House, Hon Ali Isa, also led members to the meeting.
Abbas noted that reports issued by international observers after the 2023 elections are being considered in the ongoing electoral and democratic reforms by the National Assembly.
He said: “I want to acknowledge that the leadership of the country under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, is very committed to ensuring that we improve on our electoral processes particularly regarding the observations made (by international observers) in the 2023 election.
“We in the National Assembly have also been busy working to gather as many issues as possible, arising from the last elections, so that we can see how we can legislatively address them; so that our next election will be more transparent, acceptable and in alignment with international standards.”
Allaying fears about the timeliness of the reforms, the Speaker disclosed a joint Senate and House leadership meeting held last week which resolved to isolate electoral amendments and accelerate their consideration and passage.
“We agreed that because of some of the amendments that we want to bring forth – some are by way of Act of Parliament, some are by constitutional amendment, we will fast track and isolate the electoral issues and take them as one, single entity; and push them forward for the National Assembly to deliberate and take a position; and then send them to the sub-nationals (state Houses of Assembly) to also consider them within a short timeframe – between now and December,” he said.
While stating that the Nigerian Parliament is “very serious” about the electoral reforms, Speaker Abbas noted that the National Assembly is proposing new initiatives, including reserved parliamentary seats for women, reserved parliamentary seats for Persons Living with Disabilities (PLWDs), a constitutional role and financial autonomy for traditional rulers, a single-day national election, among others.
“Like the single-day election, it is to hold the election of the president, National Assembly membership, governorship and state House of Assembly membership elections on the same day.
“In our own thinking, it will help to reduce our electoral costs to as much as 40 per cent if we can hold the elections within a day. It will also improve transparency and increase efficiency particularly on the turnout of voters,” he said.
Historically, the Speaker noted that more voters participate in presidential elections while polls at the state level often record voter apathy.
The Speaker however urged the EU to assist the National Assembly regarding advocacy and publicity especially at the subnational levels. He noted that the state Houses of Assembly must concur with the National Assembly on the laudable reforms.
He said: “One takeaway from this meeting is to take the assurance from me and my colleagues that we will not be late. We will do all the needful as far as legislation is concerned to enable INEC to have all the necessary tools and provisions to make the 2027 election much better than the 2023 election.”
Leader of the delegation, Mr Barry Andrews, earlier wished the Speaker a happy 60th birthday. He also thanked Speaker Abbas for working with the EU on different policies.
The European Parliament member and Chief of Mission noted that the visit to the Speaker was to follow up on the recommendations in the Eau report on the 2023 election.
Andrews expressed the desire of the EU to see Nigeria’s democracy and elections meet international standards
The EU lawmaker noted that part of the recommendations in the 2023 election report required legislative initiatives, some of which he admitted had been executed by the National Assembly. “We have a good story to tell, frankly,” he said.
Andrews, however, expressed concerns about the possibility of the ongoing electoral reforms being applied to the 2027 election as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) needs at least one year to implement them.
The Speaker however assured him of the National Assembly’s readiness to push the reforms to the sub-nationals by December.
