to Electoral Act 

Sunday Aborisade in Abuja 

Foremost election monitoring group, Yiaga Africa, yesterday asked the National Assembly to expedite action on the Electoral Act amendment.

The group said doing so would checkmate random defections among politicians who still retain their seats after dumping their political parties.

The Executive Director of Yiaga Africa, Mr. Samson Itodo, made the appeal at a symposium held in honour of the Director General of the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies, Prof. Abubakar Sulaiman, in Abuja on his six years in office.

Itodo spoke to the gale of defections from opposition parties to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), in recent times.

He lamented the rapidly changing political atmosphere ahead of the 2027 general elections.

It would be recalled that on April 23, Delta Governor Sheriff Oborevwori switched allegiance to the APC.

He took along with him, the entire Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) structure in the state including the PDP’s 2023 vice presidential candidate, Ifeanyi Okowa.  

Similarly, many chieftains of the opposition namely the PDP, Labour Party (LP) and New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) in the National Assembly had also left for the ruling party.

Itodo, however, argued that it was unfair to still hold on to the people’s mandate after abandoning the platform that gave the privilege to be voted into office.

He said, “Nigerians would want NILDS to help solve these problems and I am glad the clerk (of the National Assembly) is here. 

“There is a lot of cross-carpeting happening in the National Assembly and Nigerians are wondering if it is not possible to look for an intellectual solution to this defection. 

“When people contest for office on certain platforms and people give them their trust and the Supreme Court has said that votes in an election belong to a party, shouldn’t these individuals vacate those particular seats?”

The Yiaga Africa boss also demanded support for more representation of women in the act of lawmaking at the National Assembly.

He said, “It’s not for clapping. But again, this is an intellectual edifice and this is a room for debate. So I am putting it before you as part of your next agenda. 

“Can we solve this problem about cross-cutting and decamping using legal reforms? 

“The second point is about the role of women in politics. It is a great deal to put back more lobbying legislators, because we want to see more women in the National Assembly. 

“The third, and perhaps the last point, is that this institute has invested so much in elections and electoral reform under your leadership. 

“Please help us ask the National Assembly to pass the electoral amendments before the end of the year. Again, I am glad that the clerk is still seated beside you.”

Similarly, the Vice Chancellor of the University of Abuja, Prof. Patricia Manko, in her speech on the occasion, argued that Nigerian youths, which make up a huge part of the population and women deserve a considerable representation at the parliament.

She said, “Our youths and women matter a lot in this country hence the National Assembly must make room for adequate representation for them in the legislature.

“I want to also commend President Bola Tinubu for driving positive improvement in the country despite the economic condition of the economy.

“We are beginning to see the impactful changes in our institution as well,” she said.