Reps propose open-secret ballot for election of presiding officers

The House of Representatives has proposed an open-secret ballot system for the election of presiding officers for the federal and state legislatures.

The proposals are contained in two bills sighted by our correspondent, which are before the Constitution Review Committee headed by the Deputy Speaker,  Hon. Benjamin Okezie Kalu.

The bills sponsored by Rep. Mansur Manu Soro seek the alteration of some sections of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).

The first bill is titled, “A bill for an act to alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (1999) to provide for an open-secret ballot system in the election of presiding officers of the National Assembly; to make the choices of voters confidential, safeguard voters from victimisation, and mitigate the impact of external influence on the election of presiding officers of the National Assembly.”

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It seeks to alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria Cap C.23 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004, referred to as “the Principal Act.”

The second bill is titled, “A bill for an act to amend the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (1999), to provide for an open secret ballot system in the election of presiding officers of a State House of Assembly.”

The proposed amendment reads, “Section 92(1) is amended to read thus, “There shall be a Speaker and a Deputy Speaker of a House of Assembly who shall be elected by the members of that House from among themselves using an open secret ballot system.”