Electoral Act: Reps in stormy session over Card Reader

The House of Representatives on Tuesday witnessed a stormy session as members disagreed on the use of the Card Reader machine by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in the 2019 general elections with lawmakers polarised along party lines.

The uproar in the House was during the debate on the second reading of a bill seeking to amend four aspects of the Electoral Act bordering on the use of Card Readers for future elections, the death of either a presidential or gubernatorial candidate, party disclosure on funds as well as allowing Nigerians in the Diaspora to vote.

Even though lawmakers were unanimous on the need to improve on the electoral processes, they however disagreed on some aspects of the amendment bill which seeks to include electronic card reader in the Electoral Act as a credible means of voter accreditation and voting, including ensuring strict compliance with election guidelines and manual to make elections free, fair and credible.

Opponents of the amendment bill led by the Minority Leader of the House, Rep. Leo Ogor, said that there was a difference between electronic voting and the Card Reader, declaring that the Card Reader was nothing but an instrument used to disenfranchise Nigerians.
Rep. Ogor, who argued that rather than improve the electoral process, the Card Reader did more damage to the voting public, stated that if the INEC wants to introduce electronic voting in 2019, it should do so, instead of equating the use of the Card Reader with electronic device.

He maintained that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will oppose any attempt to introduce Card Readers into the Electoral Act, adding that “the Card Reader is an instrument of disenfranchising Nigerians. INEC should wake up to their responsibility. We should go for clear electronic voting.
“Any attempt to introduce the Card Readers into the Electoral Act, we will go fully against it,” Ogor warned.
In the same vein, Rep. Toby Okechukwu posited that the Card Reader puts the nation’s democracy to question and should not be used as a basis for elections. He recalled that the device failed to recognise many registered voters thus disenfranchising them in the 2015 general polls and elections conducted thereafter by INEC.

The resistance by PDP members against the amendment bill failed to deter APC lawmakers from supporting the proposed amendment, as they insisted that the electronic Card Reader remains a critical component of modern technology to advance the nation’s democracy.
Majority Whip, Rep. Alhassan Ado-Doguwa said there was the need to insert the electronic Card Reader in the Electoral Act, as it is meant to tackle political corruption in the country.

“No amount of argument can convince me that the Card Reader is not an electronic device.
“The usage of the Card Reader is a deliberate attempt to fight electoral corruption. It is a very good bill and the Card Reader must survive and be included in the Electoral Act. Whoever finds himself as a victim of the Card Reader should have himself to blame,” Ado- Doguwa submitted.

Apart from the insertion of the Card Reader in the Act, the amendment bill also seeks to provide a timeline for the substitution of candidates, the disclosure of sources of funds contributed to political parties and further empower INEC to uphold results of party primaries, where there is a change in the result.

The bill looks to further alter the 2010 Electoral Act by incorporating Diaspora voting in the presidential elections in the country.

These amendments, according to the sponsor of the bill, Rep. Eucharia Azodo is to empower Nigerians living in the Diaspora to vote in subsequent presidential elections in the country.
Contributing to debate on the bill, Rep. Shehu Garba said that there was the need to provide a platform for Nigerians in the Diaspora to contribute to the country’s electoral process by voting just as they contribute to the development process.

Chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Relations, Rep. Nnenna Elendu-Ukeje however, said that empowering Nigerians in the Diaspora to vote would be difficulty to implement as the country’s electoral body had no database of Nigerians living in the Diaspora.
Rep. Elendu added that it was the place of INEC to come up with proposed amendments and tell the House how it intends to make it work.

“I recognise the importance and need for Nigerians in the Diaspora to be able to vote in the presidential election, but the problem is we do not have a database of Nigerians residing outside the shores of this country.

“We can’t legislate Diaspora voting. INEC should come and tell us that they want to do it, tell us how they will do it. They have to build the foundation on which we can go ahead and legislate on it,” Ukeje said.

Another aspect of the bill seeks to empower the vice presidential and deputy governorship candidates of any political party to assume the position of their party’s candidates if the candidate dies before the completion of an election.

The sponsor of the amendment, Rep. Sunday Karimu said the amendment will address controversies like that witnessed during the Kogi State governorship election where the APC candidate, the late Abubakar Audu died while the election was going on.

Deputy Majority Whip, Rep. Pally Iriase described the bill as a proactive attempt to deepen the nation’s democracy. The lawmaker said the bill will enable the House to take a holistic view of the 2010 Electoral Act and make necessary amendments.
He urged the Presidential Committee on Electoral Reforms headed by Senator Ken Nnamani to speed up its assignments, so that its recommendations can be incorporated into the Electoral Act preparatory to the conduct of the 2019 general elections.
The bill was thereafter referred to the House Committees on Electoral, Political Matters and Justice for further legislative work.