Deputy Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, Hon. Abdussamad Dasuki, has urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to reconsider its staggered arrangement for the 2027 general elections and conduct the federal and state polls on a single day.
Dasuki also called for the removal of Section 63(2) of the Electoral Act, warning that the provision could create a loophole capable of undermining the integrity of the 2027 elections by allowing ballot papers without the prescribed official mark to be counted under certain circumstances.
The lawmaker made the remarks at the weekend when youths of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) visited him to congratulate him on his emergence as deputy minority leader.
According to Dasuki, conducting the presidential, National Assembly, governorship and State House of Assembly elections on the same day would reduce the economic cost of elections and minimise disruptions to socio-economic activities across the country.
He said a single-day election would also reduce government expenditure on allowances and logistics for ad hoc electoral personnel, security agencies and other stakeholders, particularly at a time when government resources were needed to address pressing welfare concerns.
Dasuki further argued that combining the elections would reduce election-related movements, especially in view of the prevailing security challenges.
He explained that under the current arrangement, Nigerians and other election participants who travel for the polls could be required to make separate journeys in January for the federal elections and in February for the state elections.
âIf the elections are conducted on one day, such journeys would only have to be made once,â he said.
The deputy minority leader therefore urged INEC to merge the federal and state elections and conduct them in either January or February 2027.
He said the proposed arrangement would require voters to cast five ballot papers covering the presidential, senatorial, House of Representatives, governorship and State House of Assembly elections.
Dasuki maintained that INEC had the capacity to effectively manage the five ballot papers if adequate preparations were made ahead of the polls.
He also pointed to the existence of eight off-cycle governorship elections, arguing that this would make a single-day election more practicable because governorship elections would not be held in those states during the 2027 electoral cycle.
According to him, voters in the affected states would only have four ballot papers to cast, further simplifying the process.
He said the arrangement would reduce the movement of voters, political actors, electoral officials and security personnel across the country.
âConsidering the security situation in Nigeria, participants should not be required to make two separate journeys for elections when the process can be efficiently organised to take place on one day,â Dasuki said.
On the Electoral Act, the lawmaker expressed concern over Section 63(2), which permits a returning officer to count a ballot paper without the prescribed official mark if the officer is satisfied that the ballot paper came from a book supplied to the presiding officer for use at the affected polling unit.
Dasuki argued that the provision was inconsistent with the safeguard contained in Section 63(1), which states that, subject to subsection (2), a ballot paper without the official mark prescribed by INEC shall not be counted.
Quoting Section 63(2), he said, âWhere the returning officer is satisfied that a ballot paper which does not bear the official mark was from a book of ballot papers which was furnished to the presiding officer of the polling unit in which the vote was cast for use at the election in question, he or she shall, notwithstanding the absence of the official mark, count the ballot paper.â
He warned that the provision could expose the electoral process to abuse by making it more difficult to distinguish genuine ballot papers from fake or unauthorised ones.
Dasuki called for Section 63(2) to be expunged from the Electoral Act, assuring that minority leaders in the National Assembly were working to ensure the provision was reviewed before the 2027 elections.
The lawmaker also commended the recent increase in the salaries of members of the Armed Forces, describing the move as a step in the right direction.
He, however, called for further improvement in the welfare of military personnel, particularly with regard to accommodation.
Dasuki said all military personnel should have access to decent accommodation, stressing that improved living conditions were essential to boosting the morale and effectiveness of the Armed Forces.
He also renewed his call for forfeited properties to be handed over to the military for use as accommodation and other facilities.
According to him, improving the welfare of military personnel is particularly important given the demanding security responsibilities they continue to shoulder across the country.
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