The house of representatives has thrown out a bill that sought to make it compulsory for presidential and governorship candidates to secure more than 50 percent of the total votes cast, to be declared winners.
The bill seeking to change the current simple majority
system of electing the president and governors, suffered a setback on the floor
of the green chamber on Wednesday.
Sponsored by Awaji–Inombek Abiante, a lawmaker from Rivers,
the bill sought to make it mandatory for a presidential candidate to be
declared winner only if he or she scores more than half of the total votes
cast, where there are more than two candidates in the contest.
WHAT THE CONSTITUTION SAYS
According to the constitution, to win the presidential
election, a candidate needs to obtain 25 percent of the votes in at least
two-thirds of the 36 states and the federal capital territory (FCT), along with
an overall simple majority.
If a candidate fails to meet both requirements, a run-off
occurs between the candidate with the highest vote count and the candidate with
the most votes across most states.
Section 134 (1) of the constitution states that a “candidate
for an election to the office of President shall be deemed to have been duly
elected, where, there being only two candidates for the election:
“(a) he has the
majority of votes cast at the election; and
“(b) he has not less than one-quarter of the votes cast at
the election in each of at least two-thirds of all the States in the Federation
and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
“(2) A candidate for an election to the office of President
shall be deemed to have been duly elected where, there being more than two
candidates for the election:
“(a) he has the highest number of votes cast at the
election; and
“(b) he has not less
than one-quarter of the votes cast at the election each of at least two-thirds
of all the States in the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.”
Section 134 also stipulates same for governorship
candidates.
THE NAYS HAD IT
But Abiante’s bill proposed that in a presidential race with
more than two candidates, a candidate must secure a majority of the total votes
— which constitutes over 50 percent.
The bill had not even been debated when lawmakers roundly
rejected it.
Tajudeen Abbas, speaker of the house, called for the bill to
be seconded after its presentation by Abiante.
However, as soon as the bill was seconded and put to a voice
vote, it was rejected — with louder “nays” than “ayes”.
The bill’s rejection process was highly unusual, as bills
are typically rejected after the general principle has been debated.
If this system had been deployed during the 2023 election,
President Bola Tinubu would not have been declared winner of the election in
the first ballot, as he did not secure the majority of total votes cast.
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