Falana rejects Reps’ proposed mandatory voting bill

A Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Femi Falana, has strongly criticised a proposed bill that seeks to make voting compulsory for Nigerians and warned that such legislation would violate constitutionally guaranteed freedoms in the country.

The bill, sponsored by Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, proposes punitive measures, including a six-month jail term or a fine of N100,000, for eligible voters who fail to participate in elections.

Abbas also argued that the initiative aims to boost civic participation and address the persistent problem of low voter turnout in Nigeria.

However, Falana, in a statement released Monday, urged the lawmakers to reconsider the bill because it is incompatible with key provisions of the 1999 Constitution.

He said: “I doubt that the speaker and his colleagues paid sufficient attention to the relevant provisions of the constitution.

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“Otherwise, they would have realised that compulsory voting is constitutionally invalid in every material particular.”

Falana cited sections 37, 38, 77(2), 135(5), and 178(5) of the constitution, which, according to him, protect citizens’ rights to privacy, freedom of thought and conscience, and the voluntary nature of voter registration and participation in elections.

The lawyer referenced notable judicial precedents, including the Supreme Court case Medical and Dental Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal v. Okonkwo (2001), where the court upheld the right of a Jehovah’s Witness patient to refuse blood transfusion on religious grounds. The court, led by the late Justice Emmanuel Ayoola, ruled that the right to privacy and freedom of thought protects individuals from coercive interference in deeply personal decisions.

“Similarly, the choice to vote—or not to vote—is a personal decision that should not be criminalised,” Falana explained.

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