…Says, he prefers going to jail than comply with such a law
Human rights lawyer, Olisa Agbakoba, SAN has faulted the proposed bill seeking to make voting mandatory in Nigeria, saying that it completely failed to address the root causes of voter apathy in the country.
This was as he said that he would rather be imprisoned than obey such an obnoxious law, stressing that he can never be forced to vote.
Agbakoba, who stated these when he featured on Channels Television programme; ‘Politics Today’, strongly condemned the attempt of the National Assembly to enforce compulsory voting.
In his words; “Look at the ridiculous one in the National Assembly about voting being compulsory. If that bill were to pass, I would say, ‘Agbakoba, we will not obey it.’
“I’ll plead conscientious objection. I would rather go to prison for six months than to obey it,” he said.
Agbakoba particularly questioned the rationale behind the bill, stressing that there is no justification whatsoever for the National Assembly to want to impose compulsory voting.
He said that instead, the National Assembly should reverse and find out why Nigerians are interested in voting and try to address the general issues about voter apathy
Agbakoba noted that voter disengagement stems from years of exclusion, outcome of votes not reflecting the people’s choice, unfulfilled political promises and not a lack of civic responsibility, stressing that the exclusion is at the heart of Nigeria’s democratic failure.
Reflecting on the journey towards 2027, Agbakoba, said that he noticed a troubling pattern and warned that democracy cannot succeed in Nigeria if it continues to serve only a select elite.
Responding to a question on whether the real issue is the attractiveness of public office and the consistent failure of leadership, Agbakoba stressed that Nigeria’s political failure is the core reason behind low voter turnout.
The bill jointly sponsored by Speaker Tajudeen Abbas and Hon Daniel Asama Ago of the Labour Party, scaled second reading in the House of Representatives.
It is aimed at making voting for all Nigerians of eligible age in national and state elections compulsory.
