Skip to main content

Rep calls for strengthening of Electoral Act, institutions

Electoral Act

Mr Benjamin Kalu, Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Media and Public Affairs, says Nigeria must strengthen its laws to ensure politics is practised without ethnic, religious or tribal considerations.

Kalu (APC-Abia), who made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Abuja, said Nigeria must strengthen its electoral institutions to reduce the influence of those in power.

“We saw in the recent U.S. election that the ‘power of incumbency’ had no influence over electoral institutions unlike in most African democracies.

He stressed that the U.S elections had also shown that “the independence of institutions and unbiased electoral umpire cannot be questioned; the credibility of the institutions cannot be easily influenced even by a sitting president or governor”.

Kalu also said that there must be equal opportunities for all to participate in politics, adding that women should be supported by family and friends.

The lawmaker commended the emergence of Kamala Harris as the first female Vice President-elect in the Nov. 3 U.S elections, saying that women should be motivated to participate in politics and not be called names when they do.

ALSO READ: #EndSARS: SERAP seeks probe of false posting on federal ministry’s Twitter

According to him, some of these women were born leaders, and what was required was for them to be given the chance to make a contribution, saying that women should emulate Harris and work hard, rather than wait for the platform to be given to them, to secure political power.

“I am proud of Americans, for the first time, they have given a woman a chance to become the second citizen of the U.S. It is something we need to emulate, we need to know that in politics and leadership of a nation, ethnicity, race or religion should not play a role.

“I am currently working with lawmakers around the world on a ban on the use of religion, during elections and in politics.

“We need a ban on discrimination; once somebody has the competence, he should be seen as being able to lead and not be rejected on grounds of ethnicity or religion”, the lawmaker said.

Kalu said that the 9th Assembly had demonstrated strong political will to enhance the electoral process in the country by amending the Electoral Act, stressing that the House had debated and passed the amendment bill for second reading, urging all Nigerians to participate in the public hearing, when it is scheduled.

He urged African leaders, particularly in Nigeria, not to insist on contesting election outcomes in court but to ensure that they delivered dividends of democracy to the people. (NAN)

Vanguard News Nigeria

The post Rep calls for strengthening of Electoral Act, institutions appeared first on Vanguard News.


by Emmanuel Okogba via Vanguard News https://ift.tt/3fRIJFP Best Known Member of the Cabinet Wikipedia
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

UPDATED: Nigeria’s coronavirus cases reach 1,728, fatalities 51

  By David Royal The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) says 196 new cases of coronavirus (COVID-19) have been reported in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 1,728. NCDC also announced that seven more fatalities were recorded, bringing the total number of deaths to 51. The NCDC, in a tweet at about 11:55 p.m. on Wednesday, said the 196 new cases reported were; 87-Lagos, 24-Kano, 18-Gombe, 17-Kaduna, 16-FCT, 10-Katsina, 8-Sokoto, 7-Edo, 6-Borno, 1-Yobe, 1-Ebonyi, 1-Adamawa. The virus has spread to 34 states and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. Yobe, according to NCDC report, is the most recent state to record COVID-19 case in the country. According to the agency, Nigeria now has 1,370 active cases recorded as of 11:55 p.m. on April 29, while 307 infected persons have been treated and discharged, with 51 deaths recorded. READ ALSO: US says remdesivir shows ‘clear-cut’ effect in treating coronavirus “On the 29th of April 2020, 196 ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Covid 19: Bowen University tasks government on post coronavirus fallout

By Shina Abubakar, Osogbo   THE Vice Chancellor of Bowen University, Iwo, Osun State, Prof. Joshua Ogunwole, has urged governments at different levels to prepare for the aftermath of coronavirus as he opined that life would not remain the same afterward. While alerting the government of the effect of the pandemic on the economy, he charged the people to brace up for the challenges post COVID-19 will pose for the society, especially in the area of human relation. READ ALSO: BRAIN DRAIN: Beyond minimum wage, give doctors welfare package — LAGOS NMA Ogunwole who disclosed to this while donating relief materials to the people of Iwo and Oluponna to cushion the effect of lockdown on the vulnerable residents of the towns, said the world would not remain the same as global economy would rely more on virtual interaction, hence, the masses must be prepared for the new reality. While noting that the school’s gesture was to support government’s efforts in alleviating the sufferings of ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Tanzania’s Magufuli: ‘Bulldozer’ who flattened freedoms

President of Tanzania, John Magufuli Tanzanian President John Magufuli came to power as a no-nonsense man of the people nicknamed The Bulldozer, but along with popular efforts to clean up graft, he has been accused of crushing dissent and stifling democracy. The 61-year-old on Friday won a second term in office with a resounding 84 percent of the vote, after an election which the opposition said was riddled with irregularities. Magufuli was first elected in 2015 on a fiery anti-corruption stance which endeared him to a population weary of graft scandals under his predecessor Jakaya Kikwete. He quickly took wildly popular decisions, such as scrapping lavish independence day celebrations in favour of a street clean-up and banning unnecessary foreign trips for officials. Several headline-grabbing incidents saw him showing up in person to demand why civil servants were not at their desks, while in one case officials were briefly jailed for lateness. Dozens of officials implicated ...
Post a Comment
Read more