A member of the National Assembly, Senator
Christopher Ekpenyong, on Thursday canvassed for the amendment of the Electoral Act
to make the use of card readers compulsory for voters during elections.
Ekpenyong, representing Akwa-Ibom North West
senatorial district on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP),
assured Nigerians that the ninth Senate would ensure that an amendment to the Electoral
Act to make card reader compulsory for election is passed soon.
Speaking with journalists after plenary, Ekpenyong,
who narrated his experience during the re-run election with his opponent and
former Governor of Akwa Ibom State and now Minister of Niger Delta Affairs,
Godswill Akpabio, said he was ready to
sponsor a bill on the amendment of the Electoral Act.
According to him, "The card reader is a very
strong device both in accreditation and the determination of who votes by the electorate,
and it is through the card reader that we can determine the votes that is being
cast, and not just for the court to say it is not recognised in law.
"So we must make sure that the card reader is
recognised by law. That is the only way we can go in our Electoral Act. I have
gone through electoral processes in Nigeria and to that extent, I will come up
with a bill that will change the circumstances of our electoral process that
enables the people to choose their leaders and not by guns or court."
On how his representation has impacted on the lives
of his constituents, the lawmaker said he had empowered about 180 persons from
Akwa-Ibom North-West senatorial district with resources to invest and fend for
themselves.
According to him, "I invited one person each from
the 180 wards in my senatorial district to my local government area and brought
another person from my border community and gave each of them the sum of
N100,000 to engage in a business of their choice.”
No comments:
Post a Comment