Reps Approve Electoral Act Amendments, Slam Vote Buying with Jail Term, N5m Fine

Reps Approve Electoral Act Amendments, Slam Vote Buying with Jail Term, N5m Fine

The House of Representatives has approved significant amendments to the Electoral Act, introducing tougher sanctions for vote buying and selling, alongside provisions for technology-driven voting and improved election transparency.

Under the amended Clause 22 (a and c), individuals involved in buying or selling votes and voter cards now face a minimum of two years’ imprisonment or a N5 million fine, or both, and a 10-year ban from contesting elections, a major increase from previous penalties capped at N500,000 or two years’ imprisonment.

To enhance electoral integrity, the House also amended Section 60(3) of the Electoral Act, mandating the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to electronically transmit results in real time from polling units to the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IREV), alongside physical collation. The provision ensures electronic transmission occurs simultaneously with physical collation, strengthening safeguards against result manipulation.

Presiding officers who breach procedures for counting, announcing, or transmitting polling unit results now face a minimum fine of N500,000 or six months’ imprisonment, or both, under the new Section 60(6).

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• Reps Approve Electoral Act Amendments, Slam Vote Buying with Jail Term, N5m Fine

Lawmakers also approved the release of election funds to INEC at least one year before general elections, and increased penalties for multiple voter registration, with offenders now liable to a minimum fine of N100,000 or one year’s imprisonment, or both.

The amendments extend the deadline for political parties to submit their list of candidates to INEC from 180 to 210 days before elections, allowing additional time for processing. The House also sanctioned the use of electronically generated voter identification, including downloadable voter cards with unique QR codes, for voter accreditation and voting.

Chairman of the House Committee on Electoral Matters, Adebayo Balongun, briefed journalists, explaining that the House had shelved plans to repeal the Electoral Act 2022, opting instead for targeted reforms after broader proposals—including early voting, inmate voting, and replacing the Permanent Voters’ Card (PVC) with tech-driven mechanisms—failed to gain sufficient consensus.

“The far-reaching proposals did not command majority support across both Chambers of the National Assembly nor among key stakeholders consulted during the legislative process,” Balongun said.

Consideration of the remaining clauses of the Electoral Act amendment bill 2025 is ongoing, as the House moves to consolidate reforms aimed at enhancing transparency, curbing electoral fraud, and modernising Nigeria’s voting system.

Reps Approve Electoral Act Amendments, Slam Vote Buying with Jail Term, N5m Fine