Electoral bill: YIAGA to hold town hall meeting on Jan 16

YIAGA Africa, a civil society organisation, has scheduled a town hall meeting in which participants will discuss the electoral bill.

The event, which is scheduled to hold physically and virtually on January 16, will serve as a platform for INEC officials, political party representatives, civil society organisations and other national stakeholders to deliberate on the bill.

On November 19, TheCable had reported that the national assembly transmitted the electoral act amendment bill to President Muhammadu Buhari for assent.

But Buhari had withheld assent to the bill, stating that the clause recommending direct primary for political parties “violates the spirit of democracy”.

Electronic transmission of election results and compulsory direct primaries for political parties are among the amendments proposed by the national assembly.

Following the president’s rejection of the bill, eight civil society organisations (CSOs), including YIAGA, had highlighted errors and contradictions in the rejected electoral act amendment bill.

The CSOs had advised the national assembly to correct the mistakes before resubmitting to President Muhammadu Buhari.

The town hall meeting will hold by 7pm at Transcorp Hilton in Abuja.

The meeting will also be aired on local television stations.