{"id":116893,"date":"2025-03-28T11:03:08","date_gmt":"2025-03-28T10:03:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/?p=116893"},"modified":"2025-03-28T11:03:08","modified_gmt":"2025-03-28T10:03:08","slug":"senate-moves-to-implement-same-day-voting-across-all-electoral-offices-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/senate-moves-to-implement-same-day-voting-across-all-electoral-offices-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Senate Moves to Implement Same-Day Voting Across All Electoral Offices"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">***as bill passes second reading, proposes shorter campaign period<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">By Tracy Moses<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">A bill aimed at reducing the financial burden of elections and introducing same-day voting for all elective positions in Nigeria has successfully passed its second reading in the Senate.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">The \u201cElectoral Act (Amendment) Bill, 2025,\u201d sponsored by Sen. Saliu Mustapha (APC, Kwara Central), calls for urgent electoral reforms, emphasizing the growing costs associated with conducting elections in the country.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">Senator Mustapha explained, &#8220;The financial cost of elections in Nigeria has skyrocketed, increasing from N1.5 billion in 1999 to a staggering N350 billion in 2023. Such an escalation is unsustainable and weakens our democracy.&#8221;<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">To tackle this issue, Mustapha&#8217;s proposal advocates for holding presidential, gubernatorial, National Assembly, and State Assembly elections on the same day. He believes this approach would substantially reduce expenses, improve voter turnout, and simplify the logistics of organizing elections.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">In addition to the same-day elections, the bill proposes a reduction in the campaign period, which Mustapha argued would relieve political parties, candidates, and the government from the financial strain caused by prolonged campaigns. &#8220;A shorter campaign period will curb excessive spending and refocus political efforts on governance instead of endless campaigning,&#8221; Mustapha stated.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">The bill also includes provisions for granting elected officials the right to participate as ad hoc delegates at their political parties\u2019 conventions. Mustapha argued that the current exclusion of elected officials from party decisions is detrimental and counterproductive.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">Through this legislation, Mustapha hopes to implement cost-saving measures that will not only reduce election expenditure but also reallocate billions of naira towards essential infrastructure development and governance improvements.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">Drawing from successful election models in countries such as the United States, India, and Brazil, the senator urged his colleagues to support the bill, pointing out how same-day elections have been instrumental in minimizing costs and enhancing the efficiency of electoral processes.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cBy adopting this approach, Nigeria can free up valuable funds that can be redirected to critical infrastructure projects,\u201d he emphasized.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">While the bill received strong support from many lawmakers, some senators raised concerns over the Independent National Electoral Commission\u2019s (INEC) ability to manage the logistics of conducting all elections on a single day.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">Sen. Adams Oshiomhole (APC, Edo North) expressed caution, questioning whether INEC was adequately prepared to handle such an extensive reform. &#8220;While the bill\u2019s intentions are commendable, we must carefully consider whether INEC is fully equipped to conduct all elections on the same day,&#8221; Oshiomhole noted.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">He also pointed out potential challenges, such as confusion among voters, particularly those with limited literacy, when presented with multiple ballot papers. &#8220;We must think about the possible difficulties this could create for less-educated voters,&#8221; he added.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">The bill has now been sent to the Senate Committee on Electoral Matters for further examination, with a report expected in the next four weeks.<\/div>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Related Posts generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>***as bill passes second reading, proposes shorter campaign period By Tracy Moses A bill aimed at reducing the financial burden of elections and introducing same-day voting for all elective positions&hellip;<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Related Posts generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":92360,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-116893","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.8 - 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