NASS to amend Electoral Act for card readers’ inclusion

MEMBERS of the National Assembly are to commence gradual amendments of the Electoral Act to give teeth to the use of card readers as a valid and constitutional process of conducting elections across the country.

Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Basic Education, Zakari Mohammed, disclosed this yesterday in Ilorin while chatting with reporters.

The amendment to the nation’s Electoral Act, he said, would be done to take care of recent observations and pronouncements of the Supreme Court concerning the constitutional relevance of card readers in the nation’s electoral process.

Mohammed, who is representing Baruten/Kaiama Constituency of Kwara State, said lawmakers would work towards making the facility legally binding in order not to rubbish the record set for Nigeria’s electoral reforms through the use of card readers.

“The court was stating the law in those judgments you mentioned but you and I know that the card reader was very helpful in giving credibility to the elections. So, we will work on it,” he assured.