Constitutional lawyer Barr Ken Ikeh, Thursday, described the bill seeking to make voting compulsory in Nigeria as a violation of citizens’ fundamental rights.
Ikeh made this disclosure in Enugu in an interview with NewsNGR. He described those rooting for such a law as “lacking focus”.
He stated that, “The Bill for an Act to provide for Compulsory Voting in Nigeria electoral system by the members of the National Assembly is obviously a demonstration of lack of focus, total alienation from the people and a breach of the fundamental rights of the citizenry as entrenched in the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended).
“Particularly, the proposed bill that suggests compulsion in any election has abrogated sections 38, 39 and 40 of the constitution which guaranteed the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; the right to freedom of expression and the press, which implies the ability to hold personal opinion on everything, and the right to peaceful assembly and association; in that order.”
He said the attempt to violate these fundamental rights was not justified in the present circumstances. He advised the lawmakers to rather initiate bills that would strengthen Nigeria’s electoral system to rebuild people’s confidence in voting during elections.
Quoting him, “One would rather think that the concern of the parliament ought to be on how best to strengthen the electoral system. Have we addressed the human factors that usually lower the election expectations? Can’t we adopt election as a method of choosing who becomes the Chairman of INEC and the Presidential Returning Officer?
“Have we addressed the technologies associated with the conduct of our elections, like upgrading the network for the iREV and the BIVAS? I am of the view that a thorough review of the 2023 General Election and the challenges that marred the process ought to assist the parliament in reaching a good decision on the right path necessary to overcome those mundane glitches.
“It is true that Rome wasn’t built in a day, likewise our journey to a sustainable electoral system should be resilient but focused on finding what could become a surefooted autochthonous arrangement. The compulsory voting is impracticable in enforcement and cannot serve any purpose in improving our electoral system.”
Speaking also, Larry Oguego, Coordinator of Human Rights Volunteer Corps, advised the lawmakers to focus on bills to make voting transparent as well as laws to punish politicians and officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission as well as security agents that aid electoral malpractices. According to him, the proponents of the bill “are trying to project Nigeria as a good country to the world”.
In his view, “It is true that the number of Nigerians casting votes during elections has been going down steadily. They want to compel us to vote and then make those that refuse to vote bad citizens. These lawmakers are wasting their time and public funds. Why don’t they initiate laws to compel INEC and political parties to conduct credible elections and make the violators punishable? They are chasing shadows. It goes to show that we elected men of questionable character to be making laws for us. Let them build prisons where the violators will be imprisoned.”
He maintained that it was the right of the citizens to choose not to vote “probably on religious beliefs or when no candidates met their set certain standards”. He advised lawmakers to legislate against voice voting during plenaries to enable Nigerians to know who voted on some national issues.
According to him, “When political parties fail to conduct credible primaries, hence bringing politicians that are unacceptable, you don’t expect voters to still vote against their consciences. What about the normal INEC glitches or thuggery or dysfunctional Irev? Will you still blame innocent Nigerian voters for not voting.”
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