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The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has appealed to Senate President Godswill Akpabio and House Speaker Tajudeen Abbas to retract a proposed bill that seeks to impose a six-month prison sentence or a fine of N100,000 on any Nigerian of voting age who fails to participate in national and state elections.
SERAP proposed that instead of the bill, the senate and the House of Assembly should revise the Nigerian Constitution 1999 (as amended) and the Electoral Act 2022 to eliminate constitutional immunity for state governors and their deputies involved in electoral crimes, such as vote-buying, thereby facilitating the investigation and prosecution of offenders.
The organization also called for amendments to the Nigerian Constitution and the Electoral Act to bar members of any political party from serving as resident electoral commissioners (RECs) for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
In a letter signed by SERAP’s Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, the organization emphasized that punishing eligible Nigerians for choosing not to vote is fundamentally inconsistent with both the essence of the Nigerian Constitution and the country’s obligations under international human rights law.
SERAP argues that the best approach to address the chronic issue of voter apathy is to establish a secure and welcoming atmosphere, tackle the impunity of influential politicians engaged in electoral misconduct, and enhance the electoral process to encourage citizen participation rather than penalize them for abstaining.
"Should the National Assembly persist in advancing the bill that proposes a six-month imprisonment for eligible Nigerians choosing not to vote in national and state elections, and if such a bill receives the approval of President Bola Tinubu, SERAP will consider appropriate legal measures to contest the validity of such legislation and prevent its implementation.
The notion of mandatory voting and penalizing individuals for not casting their votes is impractical, unwarranted, and unlawful. The right to vote is an integral part of citizens’ engagement in their governance, and the decision to exercise that right is a personal one," SERAP stated.
The organization also suggested that any revisions to the Nigerian Constitution and the Electoral Act should include measures to hold governors, their deputies, and their agents accountable for committing electoral violations, including voter suppression, intimidation, the destruction of polling stations, or the theft of election materials.
