Lawmakers in the Nigeria’s House of Representatives have rejected a bill seeking to ensure that a Presidential or governorship candidate scores more than 50 percent of the votes cast before they are declared winner.
Nigeria practices a simple majority system in which the candidate is declared as long as they score the highest number of votes in an election.
The bill, presented by member representing Andoni/Opobo/Nkoro Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, Awaji-inombek Abiante intends to strike out the simple majority system currently in practice.
This means when there are more than two candidates in the race, the winner must secure more than 50 per cent of the total votes cast.
The bill seconded by Mudasiru Lukman representing, Ayedire, Iwo and Ola-Oluwa Federal Constituency aimed to prevent a repeat of the 2023 polls where President Bola Tinubu scored just about 37 per cent of the total votes cast.
It would also prevent a scenario where Senator Ibrahim Tambuwal secured second term victory in Sokoto state with just less than 400 votes.
The rules of the House outlines that when a bill undergoes a second reading, the general principles and objectives of the bill are debated.
After the debate, the bill is put to a vote. If the majority of members approve, the bill proceeds to the committee stage.
But the Speaker, Tajudeen Abbass broke with the tradition of the house by subjecting the bill to vote without debate, before it was overwhelmingly rejected.
Abiante was heard protesting loudly as the Speaker subjected the motion for the bill to second vote which received a rousing -‘Nay’.
