NASS assures electoral act amendment bill to be passed by Q1 2021

By our reporter| The National Assembly has assured that the Electoral Act Amendment Bill will be passed by the first quarter of 2021.

Senate President Ahmad Lawan who gave the assurance on Wednesday at a public hearing on the repeal of the Electoral Act 2010 and enactment of the 2020 Electoral Act, said lawmakers will work to make this possible so that the effectiveness of the amended 2020 Act will be tested in early elections.

Also speaking at the hearing, Ike Ekweremadu who chaired previous amendments of the electoral Act advocated for the expansion of electronic voting to include electronic transmission of votes.

But the speaker of the House of Representative, Femi Gbajabiamila argued that electronic voting may fail in rural areas thereby voiding the the votes of the people in those areas.

The Electoral Act Amendment Bill, last month, scaled second reading in the House of Representatives after series of deliberation by the lawmakers.