By Iyabo Adebisi
The Chairman, Senate Committee on Electoral Matters, Senator Sarafadeen Alli, says the National Assembly is committed to reforming electoral legal framework for positive, effective and efficient leadership recruitment process.
He said this in Ibadan at the 2-day South-West Zonal Legislative Interactive Session, organised by the National Assembly Joint Committee on Electoral Matters.
Senator Alli, who represents Oyo South Senatorial District, said the interactive session is a deliberate step into the future of elections in Nigeria on what it should be and how the process should run seamlessly.
He explained that the inputs at the forum are required for the future of elections and the electoral process in Nigeria.
Senator Alli noted that the committee is scheduled to carry out the interactive session with different stakeholders and interest groups across the country.
In a goodwill message, the chairman, House Committee on Electoral Matters, Prince Adebayo Balogun, representing Ibeju/Lekki Federal Constituency, noted that young people participation in general elections or the electoral process are defined by many factors.
These factors according to Prince Balogun are economic, political awareness, education, political culture, access to information and technology, youth representation and social networks.
“As we strive to amend our Electoral Act 2022, we must seek to accommodate very useful and insightful legislative framework to make the participation of our young people more visible nnd audible,” he said.
In his address, the chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Mahmood Yakubu said elections were among the most effective ways of promoting participation in governance.
Professor Yakubu who was represented by the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Oyo State, Dr Adeniran Tella, stated that the 2023 general election witnessed quite a number of youths’ participation in the electoral process.
He noted that legislative leadership requires an investment to sustain capacity building for young legislators, who are primarily first-time lawmakers, to improve their knowledge of legislative practice and procedure.
The INEC boss urged the legislative houses to assign leadership roles to young legislators to maximise their intellect, energy, and creativity in improving legislative governance.
He equally called on media organisations to take deliberate steps to spotlight the contributions of young legislators to legislative governance and ensure media visibility for young legislators at the national and state assemblies.
Two of the participants, Emmanuel Kilaso and Miss Deborah Adewale canvassed for independence of INEC and stressed the need to curb electoral fraud and manipulation through electoral reform.
They also called for review of the accreditation system of voters to enhance transparency and accountability.
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