The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Tajudeen Abbas, on Thursday, said the National Assembly is considering electoral reforms that will merge all elections in 2027 on a single-day basis.
Abbas made this revelation in Abuja while addressing the European Union’s Election Observation follow-up mission to Nigeria’s 2023 general election.
According to the Speaker, if the amendment is signed into law, the general elections, which include presidential, gubernatorial, national, and state House of Assembly elections, are likely to take place on the same day.
The delegation led by Barry Andrew also paid a courtesy visit to the Headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), where the INEC Chairman disclosed that further delay by the legislature in amending the 2022 Electoral Act could affect preparation for the forthcoming general election.
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New Telegraph reports that the delegation has spent roughly three weeks in the country studying the level of implementation of the recommendations made in its report after the 2023 general election. They also had a chat with the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
The Speaker, in a statement through his Press Secretary, Leke Bayeiwu, told the EU delegation that their reports on the 2023 election are on the front burner for prompt action by the National Assembly.
He said: “I want to acknowledge that the leadership of the country under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is committed to ensuring that we improve on our electoral processes, particularly regarding the observations made (by international observers) on the 2023 elections.
“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.”
He further told the delegation that they had a joint session of leadership of the Senate and House of Representatives to discuss some grey areas in the electoral reforms, also to accelerate the consideration and passage of the bill.
Buttressing his point, he said this resolution resonates with the aspirations of many Nigerians that a single-day election would not only enhance the electoral process but also minimise the cost by nearly 40 per cent.
“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, he noted
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.”
