House of Representatives has taken a significant step towards increasing citizen participation in the electoral process by passing a bill to make voting compulsory for Nigerians of voting age.
Gatekeepers News reports that the proposed legislation, sponsored by Speaker Tajudeen Abbas and Daniel Ago, aims to address voter apathy during elections.
During the plenary debate, Ago emphasized that the bill would encourage citizens to participate in the electoral process. However, not all lawmakers were convinced.
Mark Esset, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party from Akwa Ibom State, raised concerns about the effectiveness of the bill, stating, “Let us not put something on nothing. If citizens have lost confidence in the electoral system, there is a lot of work to be done. Many Nigerians do not vote during elections because they believe that their votes will not count. If we must make a law to make voting compulsory, we must also make another one to make their votes count.”
Despite these concerns, the bill has passed its second reading and will undergo further scrutiny before becoming law.
