NewStats: 3,263,676 , 8,180,997 topics. Date: Saturday, 07 June 2025 at 09:25 AM 36727

The voting bill seeks to mandate voting for all Nigerians of eligible age in national and state elections.

Human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Olisa Agbakoba, has criticised the proposed bill seeking to make voting mandatory in Nigeria, declaring that he would rather be jailed than comply with such a law.

Speaking on Monday’s edition of Channels Television’s Politics Today, Agbakoba condemned the National Assembly’s attempt to enforce compulsory voting, arguing that it fails to address the root causes of voter apathy in the country.

“Look at the ridiculous one in the National Assembly about voting being compulsory. If that bill were to , I would say, ‘Agbakoba, we will not obey it.’ I’ll plead conscientious objection. I’d rather go to prison for six months than to obey it,” he said.

He questioned the rationale behind the bill, stating, “Why would the National Assembly want to impose compulsory voting? Why don’t they reverse the question and say, Why are Nigerians not interested? What is the apathy about?”

Exclusion, Unfulfilled Promises]/b]

Agbakoba maintained that voter disengagement stems from years of exclusion and unfulfilled political promises, not a lack of civic responsibility.

“[b]The apathy is that they don’t get anything. If I know that I’m going to get something—there’s an aspiration, there’s an interest—you will find people coming out to vote. But then people see the same old trick. You come, you take my vote, you disappear till the next four years. There’ll be apathy,” he said.

According to the senior lawyer, exclusion is at the heart of Nigeria’s democratic failure.

“Right now, we have a big problem with having a system that excludes. I think you will find the biggest problem we have in Nigeria is around exclusion. That, I think, is the biggest problem—around exclusion. People are not taking part in the process,” he noted.

Looking ahead to the 2027 general elections, he stated that he has noticed a troubling pattern, warning that democracy in Nigeria cannot succeed if it continues to serve only a select elite.

“Suddenly, you have a big issue of coalitions and defections. Why? I have not heard many politicians talk about people—about the welfare of Nigerians, about their suffering, about their inadequate opportunities. I have not heard that.

“All I hear politicians do is, every four years, they jump up; they become active. Once they get power, they disappear. So for all these reasons, I think we need to look for a new model,” Agbakoba stated.

Pressed on whether the real issue is the attractiveness of public office and the consistent failure of leadership, Agbakoba reiterated that Nigeria’s political failure is the core reason behind low voter turnout.

He said, “]We’ve had some good leaders, I must confess. But generally speaking, the leadership quality has been very poor. And the leadership quality has not led Nigerians to where they want to be.

“That’s why I refer to the fact that we have voter apathy and disinterest. So, unless we ask ourselves and interrogate the issue behind this lack of interest in voting, we will not get it right]/b].

“[b]I can tell you that the reason why Nigerians are not interested is because they don’t see anything. You should take a trip around Nigeria. Lagos is not Nigeria, by the way, because some people who live here, like us, think that.”

Mandatory Voting Bill Faces Criticism

The contentious proposal—A Bill for an Act to Amend the Electoral Act, 2002— ed second reading in the House of Representatives. It seeks to mandate voting for all Nigerians of eligible age in national and state elections.

The bill is tly sponsored by Speaker Tajudeen Abbas and Labour Party lawmaker Daniel Asama Ago. Ago argued during Thursday’s plenary that mandatory voting would curb voter apathy and reduce vote-buying, adding that countries like Australia have adopted similar measures successfully.

Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu also endorsed the bill, describing it as “a step in the right direction”.

However, the bill has attracted strong criticism, including from another Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, who on Monday, described the move as both unconstitutional and impractical.

In a statement titled ‘Compulsory Voting Is Not Enough’, Falana said the proposed law contradicts provisions of the 1999 Constitution, which safeguard the rights to privacy, freedom of thought, and freedom of conscience.

He said, “It is doubtful whether the Speaker and his colleagues have paid sufficient attention to the relevant provisions of the Constitution. Otherwise, they would have realised that compulsory voting is constitutionally invalid in every material particular on the ground that it is inconsistent with Sections 37, 38, 77(2), 135(5), and 178(5) of the Constitution.”

He warned that compulsory voting, if enacted, would be unenforceable.

“Compulsory voting cannot be legalised in vacuo… It is practically impossible to prosecute millions of Nigerians who may decide to boycott national and local elections that have been reduced to the periodic renewal of misgovernance, corruption, and abuse of power,” he stated.

https://www.channelstv.com/2025/05/19/id-rather-be-imprisoned-than-obey-a-compulsory-voting-law-agbakoba/?fbclid=IwQ0xDSwKY6XRjbGNrApjpDWV4dG4DYWVtAjExAAEe36I2opA1lv0XFBX1u2Ldp5GeZ8oKZAFGNd1YfcvZd7Rz588ZA6xg1xuEB3A_aem_0PEynpHSsk_jUsr4qWtJrg

In a democracy you can't force anyone to do anything. Those senators are a waste of space...most people don't vote because the political system is criminal, votes don't count...we don't want to participate in criminality, we all saw what happens during elections...all of a sudden counting/sorting venue is changed, thugs disrupting the process...these political class should stop playing with our intelligence, stop pushing the people to the wall, you can't force us to participate in your criminality, I wonder how foolish they take Nigerians for.

Those senators, idle and fighting over egos and politricking should focus on pressing issues like ending kidnapping and terrorism and stop being useless.

Lol Na play Dem dey play.,

It doesn’t make sense and won’t work so it’s not worth discussing

Wow!!!

This country is just a weird place. Like, what kind of rubbish law is this? Should have been thrown out the first second it was presented to the house. How can you force ANYONE to vote? Huh? Does it even make any sense?

Why not review the reasons some people choose not to vote?

Do the votes of people really matter? Since 1999, the general belief is that there has been background engineering to alter votes to suit a particular narrative.

How about violence? In a polling unit close to my house in one of these elections, someone's face was almost completely blown out with a pump action gun. Can the security agencies guarantee maximum security? Again, general belief is that they have been compromised.

How about those that choose not to vote for religious reasons? Don't people have the right to practice their religion as they please...as far as it does not cause harm to others?

How about the obvious corruption ravaging INEC? Has this been sorted out?

Vote buying, has this been sorted out? Weren't the APC, PDP, LP, and all other political parties involved in vote buying in this past election? Didn't we see videos online?

How about inflating voting figures?

How about the continuous failure of presidents, governors, LGA chairmen, etc, to deliver on their promises once they assume office?

You see, the reasons for choosing not to vote are endless.

The legislators do not have the power to force anyone to vote. The fact that that they are even considering this shows that they know absolutely nothing about their jobs. How shameful!

How many prisons can they build

Very useless anyhow law

“Compulsory voting cannot be legalised in vacuo… It is practically impossible to prosecute millions of Nigerians who may decide to boycott national and local elections that have been reduced to the periodic renewal of misgovernance, corruption, and abuse of power,

The sad story of Nigeria's voters

He is so right

Please watch the video here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQ7TGiEOHlc?si=ZKYJ-_4m4lAVwyeQ

People vote, a Mahmood Yakubu of INEC chooses who he wants as president.

Idle lawmakers.

shameless controlled national assembly.

The legislature is arguably the laziest and most ineffective arm of government in Nigeria, yet it should be the most vital and the very foundation of democracy. How can they even entertain such absurd ideas?

I watched the debate in the House, where one lawmaker attempted to steer the discussion in the right direction. He suggested creating voter incentives and launching public awareness campaigns to educate Nigerians on the importance of voting. But what happened? The Speaker shut him down without a second thought.

This is exactly why Nigerians must be more deliberate about who we elect to represent us in the National and State Assemblies. Many of these so-called lawmakers are not just incompetent, they’re semi-literate at best, or educated illiterates whose greed has completely overshadowed any semblance of rational thinking. Disgraceful!

like in other climes, why not a bill to take care the children of fallen soldiers who gave up their lives for the politicians to sleep and partying in peace and not in pieces
.
why not a bill for free and compulsory education for all
.
why not a bill to criminalize heards men killing people at will
.
the problems with Nigerian election is that: Those who vote decide noting but those who count the vote decide who wins

Voting should not be compulsory.

This is bad and unconstitutional

That bill may backfire on the politicians.., and I hope so.
When you finally force the people out of their homes to go and vote in the sun, and at the end their votes don't count because the results were brazenly rigged by some overzealous politicians.., folks will start asking questions and demand answers. That may escalate to all sorts of things..
Let them the bill and implement it ruthlessly

The law will not work, especially in Lagos where thugs are deployed to prevent eligible voters from exercising their franchise. Emilokan style.

The APC knows that come 2027, they may face voter apathy, hence the attempt at using the law to force people to come out and vote in order to legitimise the sham election that will be conducted.
There will be more voter apathy in 2027, since it is now clear that the Nigeria under the APC is moving towards a one-party state.

That is your choice

Bill doesn't make sense.

Useless bill that won't see the light of day

Maxymilliano:


https://www.channelstv.com/2025/05/19/id-rather-be-imprisoned-than-obey-a-compulsory-voting-law-agbakoba/?fbclid=IwQ0xDSwKY6XRjbGNrApjpDWV4dG4DYWVtAjExAAEe36I2opA1lv0XFBX1u2Ldp5GeZ8oKZAFGNd1YfcvZd7Rz588ZA6xg1xuEB3A_aem_0PEynpHSsk_jUsr4qWtJrg

I've stopped voting since I discovered that my vote don't count so why wasting my time under the sun and nobody can force me to vote.fvck Nigeria govt fvck national assembly

The last voting that almost all Nigerians came out and voted was never free. All we got was rigging from the umpire. Even the idiots that are proposing the bill were never voted by their people, so it's dead on arrival.

charlatans in govt trying hard to distract us... kolewerk!

it is APC vs Nigerians in 2027

Vote that will still not count at the end of the day.

Election that politicians will release their thugs to attack voters

Some innocent people get injured while some even get killed
And you are talking about making voting compulsory ?

Prison go full Una go build new ones walahi

Exactly that's what I'm talking about, all this imprisonment is a mere distraction, I swear this agnakogba sef nah part of the game plan....they knw we are prepared and we've know our mistakes they get there because we did not vote

MichaelSokoto:
charlatans in govt trying hard to distract us... kolewerk!

it is APC vs Nigerians in 2027

Maxymilliano:


https://www.channelstv.com/2025/05/19/id-rather-be-imprisoned-than-obey-a-compulsory-voting-law-agbakoba/?fbclid=IwQ0xDSwKY6XRjbGNrApjpDWV4dG4DYWVtAjExAAEe36I2opA1lv0XFBX1u2Ldp5GeZ8oKZAFGNd1YfcvZd7Rz588ZA6xg1xuEB3A_aem_0PEynpHSsk_jUsr4qWtJrg

Why don't they sign electronic voting into law?