In a statement issued in Abuja, he said the Electoral Act 2022 would mark a crucial turning point in Nigeria’s journey towards electoral reforms, reinforced democratic rights, higher voter turn out and consolidation of democracy.
He stressed that by signing the bill into law, President Muhammadu Buhari had given lovers of democracy a booster shot of Vote-Rigging-Vaccine (VRV).
He noted that contrary to insinuations in certain quarters, who like Joseph Goebbels of Nazi Germany, kept on peddling lies that Buhari would not sign the bill and those who believed them, the President had proved them wrong by signing the electoral law.
Okechukwu said by signing the bill, President Buhari had bequeathed to Nigerians an Electoral Act that empowers the deployment of the Smart Card Reader, Biometric Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and other technology devices for elections.
“By virtue of the Electoral Act 2022, the VRV offers electronic accreditation and electronic transmission of results. These voter empowerment machines combined to revolutionise free, fair and transparent elections in Nigeria. Electronic Transmission of results is the key element in the Act and will automatically boost voter turnout to 60 per cent in future elections.
“Electronic transmission is the lofty milestone and indeed, comes as one of the progressive legacies of the President who, as a victim of rigging has always craved legislation for the country’s electoral process,” he stated.
Speaking further, the DG of VON expressed the hope that from henceforth, Nigerians would be less attracted to stomach infrastructure or vote-buying and need not protest against misrule.
He maintained that with the VRV strengthened by the law, Nigerians could now turn out massively on elections day with confidence that they could vote out bad leaders.
Okechukwu, who stressed that the battle between leaders and the led over accountability had now shifted to the ballot box and social contract, therefore, urged Nigerians to always reflect on President Buhari’s remarks when he signed the bill to the effect that the substance of the Bill was both reformative and progressive.
