The Nigerian Senate at its plenary on Tuesday passed amendments to clauses 43, 52, 63 and 87 of the Electoral Bill 2021, the Situation Room has noted.
Situation Room is a platform of civil society organisations working on elections, good governance and other issues in Nigeria.
The Senate had initially passed the Bill in July 2021, alongside the House of Representatives.
However, the Senate’s amendments to the Bill are as follows:
Clause 43: Insertion of “Electronic Voting Machine” in subsections (1) and (3).
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Clause 52: Amendment to subsection (2) by substituting with a new subsection which reads, “Subject to Section 63 of this Bill, voting at an election and transmission of results under this Bill shall be in accordance with the procedure determined by the Commission.”
And the deletion of subsection (3) of Clause 52.
Clause 63: Amendment to subsection (5) by deleting the word “transmit” and replacing it with “transfer.”
Clause 87: Amendment to subsection (1) by substituting with a new subsection which reads, “A political party seeking to nominate candidates for elections under this Bill shall hold direct primaries “for aspirants to all elective positions, which shall be monitored by the Commission.”
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Insertion of subsection (3) which reads “The procedure for the nomination of candidates by political parties for the various elective positions by direct primaries shall ensure that all aspirants are given equal opportunities of being voted for by members of the party and “given the opportunity to have agents for the purpose of monitoring the primaries.”
Insertion of a new subsection (4) which reads, “The procedure adopted for direct primaries shall be spelt out in a guideline to be issued by the political party and filed with the Commission at least 14 days before the primary election.”
Insertion of a new subsection (5) which reads, “A political party shall maintain a register of its members and provide in the guideline for the conduct of the primaries that the register of its members shall be used for accreditation for the primaries.”
Insertion of a new subsection (6) which reads, “The Commission shall deploy personnel to monitor the primaries in all the centres where the direct primaries are held.”