Human rights lawyer and former President of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, Olisa Agbakoba, SAN, has said that he would preferred to be jailed rather than to be forced to vote in elections in Nigeria.
Agbakoba stated this while faulting the proposed bill seeking to make voting mandatory in Nigeria.
He said he would rather be imprisoned than obey such a law.
Agbakoba made this declaration on ‘Politics Today’, a programme on Channels Television on Monday.
This is as he condemned the attempt of the National Assembly to enforce compulsory voting on Nigerian’s.
The former NBA’s President argued that the Bill fails to address the root causes of voter apathy in the country.
He said, “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’d rather go to prison for six months than to obey it.”
Agbakoba also questioned the rationale behind the Bill.
He said, “Why would the National Assembly want to impose compulsory voting? Why don’t they reverse the question and say, “Why are Nigerians not interested? What is the apathy about?”
The Senior Advocate posited that voter disengagement stems from years of exclusion and unfulfilled political promises. And not a lack of civic responsibility. He added, therefore, that exclusion is at the heart of Nigeria’s democratic failure.
The former NBA President, while looking ahead to the 2027 general elections, sounded a caveat.
He stated that he has noticed a troubling pattern, warning that democracy in Nigeria cannot succeed if it continues to serve only a select elite.
Agbakoba restated that Nigeria’s political failure is the core reason behind low voter turnout.
ISUIKWUATO VOICE NEWSPAPER reports that the Bill, which. scaled second reading in the House of Representatives, seeks to mandate compulsory voting for all Nigerians of eligible age in national and state elections.
The Bill is jointly sponsored by Speaker Tajudeen Abbas and a Labour Party lawmaker, Daniel Asama Ago.