The senate has finally introduced
a bill seeking to establish the Electoral Offences Commission in the country.
The long awaited bill, titled,
“Electoral Offences Commission (Establishment) Bill”, 2019 passed second
reading at Wednesday’s plenary session.
Abubakar Kyari, senator
representing Borno north, sponsored the bill.
It was introduced a day after the
senators lamented the violence and irregularities that have continued to mar
Nigeria’s elections.
For instance, the just concluded
elections in Kogi and Bayelsa states witnessed widespread violence and
intimidation of voters and electoral officials.
The Independent National
Electoral Commission (INEC) as is currently constituted is not empowered to
prosecute electoral offenders.
Even the electoral commission has
at various times expressed frustration at its inability to handle such cases.
If passed into law, the
legislation will help unbundle the commission as well as help in speedy
prosecution of electoral offences.
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com