Speaker of Nigeria’s House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas has disclosed that Presidential, gubernatorial, national, and state House of Assembly elections might be held on the same day, if amendments to the Electoral Act is passed by the House and assented to by the President.
Abbas who spoke when a delegation of the European Union Election Observation follow-up mission to Nigeria’s 2023 general election visited him in Abuja yesterday said the proposal before the House includes the conduct of all elections in one day.
Abbas, in a statement by his Press Secretary, Leke Bayeiwu, told the EU team led by Barry Andrews that its reports on the 2023 polls were being considered in the ongoing electoral and democratic reforms by the National Assembly.
The Speaker 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 informed the team that a recent joint Senate and House of Representatives leadership meeting resolved to isolate electoral amendment issues and accelerate their consideration and passage and allayed fears about the timeliness of the reforms.
“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 within a short timeframe – between now and December,” Speaker Abbas said.
He also reassured the team that the Parliament was “very serious” about electoral reforms, Abbas said the National Assembly was proposing new initiatives, including reserved parliamentary seats for women, reserved parliamentary seats for Persons With Disability (PLWDs), a constitutional role and financial autonomy for traditional rulers, a single-day election, among others.
The Barry Andrews-led delegation also visited Headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), where its chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, warned that delay by the lawmakers in amending the Electoral Act 2022 could hamper preparations for the 2027 general election.
The delegation, which has been in the country for about three weeks to study the level of implementation of the recommendations contained in its report after the 2023 general election, also interfaced with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
