The House of Representatives have passed a bill to amend the Electoral Act 2022 for the second reading, aimed at making voting compulsory for Nigerians who are of age to vote.

Daniel Ago who led the debate during plenary on Thursday, said the bill is majorly to encourage citizens to participate in elections. While the proposed legislation was sponsored by the Speaker, Tajudeen Abbas and him (Ago), he noted that voter apathy during elections would be addressed if the bill scales legislative scrutiny.

However, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) Akwa Ibom chapter, Mark Esset, said despite the bill passing through a second reading or becoming a thing, it is not enough sanitization to the electoral system.

He described the act as “putting something on nothing” noting that the reason many Nigerians refuse to cast their votes is because they believe it changes nothing as most elections come by appointment.

“Let us not put something on nothing. If citizens have lost confidence in the electoral system, there is a lot of work to be done.

“Many Nigerians do not vote during elections because they believe that their votes will not count. If we must make a law to make voting compulsory, we must also make another one to make their votes count,” he said.