A former member of the House of Representatives, Chief Sam Onuigbo, says conducting elections in one day would reduce cost and enhance the transparency of the nation’s electoral process.
He said this during an interview with News Men in Abuja on Tuesday.
Onuigbo, who represented Ikwuano/Umuahia North and South Federal Constituency in the 8th and 9th Assembly, said it would shorten the time frame between elections and when results would be announced.
“It saves time, it saves cost, and it’s probably going to guarantee a higher level of transparency,“ he said.
Onuigbo said that days for early voting should be considered to enable people on essential duties to vote ahead of the elections date.
“If they are given a few days, they will not abandon their duty posts just to vote. So, days for early voting should be considered.
“I have said this, we would like to see improvements – modest improvements — one of which is that we can stagger the days people go to vote.
“Maybe if it’s going to be for the military, paramilitary — we give them a few days, so that people don’t abandon their duty posts just to vote,“ he said.
He said there was need to consider diaspora voting to ensure that Nigerians leaving abroad were not denied their right to vote.
“With this, we’ll probably be able to achieve a situation where people can vote over a period of time — both those in Nigeria and in the diaspora. We have to work towards that.
News Men reports that a bill to amend the Electoral Act 2022 to make Nigeria’s electoral process freer, fairer, more transparent and inclusive has passed first reading at the Senate.
The Bill, sponsored by Sen. Abdulaziz Yar’adua, aims to allow early voting in Nigerian elections to make it possible for registered voters to vote before the election date.
It will enable Nigerians on essential election duty—such as election officials, security personnel, accredited observers, and journalists to cast their votes before Election Day.
Currently, an estimated two million Nigerians are disenfranchised due to their roles on Election Day.
Early Voting will protect their voting rights and potentially increase voter turnout, addressing the issue of declining turnout in Nigerian elections.
