Following a flurry of judgements by the Supreme Court disregarding the card reader as a legitimate tool in the electoral process, a Bill seeking the inclusion of the device in the Electoral Act passed second reading in the Senate.
A Bill for an Act to amend the Electoral Act 2010, sponsored by Sen. Tijani Kaura (Zamfara North, APC) scaled second reading after a brief debate on the floor of the Red Chamber.
Leading the debate on the Bill, Senator Kaura said, “The machine (card reader) was configured to only read PVCs of a particular polling unit, which has proved to be very effective in reducing various forms of election malpractices especially multiple voting, which has characterised election for many years in Nigeria.
“However, due to some legilative oversight while drafting the Electoral Act as adduced by the Supreme Court, the usage of the game changer is threatened; hence the need for a concerted effort by the 8th Senate to salvage the situation.
He said: “You may recall that in the recent judgments of the Supreme Court on the use of the card reader, the opinions expressed during the judgment and the speech by Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) Justice Mahmud Mohammed, during the valedictory session in honour of Justice Saifullahi Muntaka Coomassie, were to the effect that the judiciary interprets law as it is and not what the public and critics feel it should be.
“Consequently it is safe to say that the cases of the card reader are unprecedented as the card reader was used for the first time in the 2015 elections based only on the 2015 Electoral Act, 2010 (no. 6) despite its novelty and this was the rationale behind the ruling of the Supreme Court. This bill becomes necessary as amending the law will enable the Supreme Court to reverse itself in future similar cases”.
Section 52 of Electoral Act legalises use of Card Reader for poll- Falana
Meanwhile, Mr Femi Falana (SAN) has said that the call for the amendment of the Electoral Act to legalise the use of card reader for future election is unnecessary on the grounds that there are provisions in the law that back INEC’s use of the device.
According to Falana, by the amendment of the Electoral Act by the National Assembly and the assent of former president Goodluck Jonathan on March 20, 2015, INEC is constitutionally empowered to deploy the Card Reader for future election.
He said, “Prior to the amendment, Section 52 of the Electoral Act had prohibited INEC from the use of any form of electronic voting. But following the amendment of the provision, INEC has been conferred with the power to determine the procedure to use it for any election.
Specifically, Section 52 states that “voting at an election shall be in accordance with the procedure determined by INEC.” With the amendment of the law, INEC was on terra firma when it determined to use the card reader machine for the accreditation of voters for the 2015 general election.”
The senior advocate also said that recent judgments of the Supreme Court did not declare the card reader illegal, but only states that the card reader is a supplementary measure to manual accreditation.
Falana however stated that, “In spite of the clear position of INEC on the mandatory use of card readers for the governorship and state legislative elections, it did not adduce any argument in favour of the use of electronic device at the various election petition tribunals and the appellate courts.”
-Leadership
