A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Olisa Agbakoba, has condemned the proposed bill seeking to make voting mandatory in Nigeria, saying he prefers imprisonment to obeying the law.
“Look at the ridiculous one in the National Assembly about voting being made compulsory,” Mr Agbakoba said in a Channels TV interview on Monday. “If that bill were to pass, I, Olisa Agbakoba, would not obey it. I will plead a consensus objection. I’d rather go to prison for six months than obey it.”
Last week, the House of Representatives passed the second reading of the bill seeking to amend the Electoral Act 2022 to make voting compulsory for Nigerians of voting age.
The bill, sponsored by the Speaker, Tajudeen Abbas and Daniel Ago, aimed to encourage participation of citizens in the electoral process by addressing the recurring voter apathy during elections.
Mr Agbakoba said voter apathy persists in the country because Nigerians have completely lost confidence in the electoral process.
He said, “Why does the National Assembly want to impose compulsory voting? Why haven’t they asked Nigerians why they’re not interested? Because they do not get anything. If Nigerians are going to get something, they would come out to vote. But if people see the same old trick from politicians, there would be apathy.
Acknowledging that Nigeria had some few good leaders in the past, the human rights lawyer insisted “the leadership quality generally is poor and has failed to take the country to where it wants to be”.
Mr Agbakoba advocated a new and thoroughly inclusive system of governance, citing China as an example of a country developing without a democracy.
The lawyer said, “The key question to ask as we begin to think through the new system is, is democracy the only model to consider? It might sound controversial, but we must confront this question. Is China not doing well for its people? China has 1.4 billion people, yet they have been managed. What makes them successful? Can’t we learn about what makes China successful?
“If you take the vote of Nigerians, do you think they’ll go for democracy? I cherish democracy as a democrat, but I am not going to say I assume Nigeria must be a democracy. China isn’t a democracy.’’
Meanwhile, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party from Akwa Ibom State, Mark Esset, said making voting compulsory was not enough to address voter apathy in the country.
Speaking during plenary on Thursday, Mr Esset noted Nigerians were disinterested in elections because they believe their votes would not count, urging more work to be done to address the situation.
