Falana rejected the mandatory ballot bills proposed by representatives

A senior Nigerian (SAN) advocate, Femi Falana, has greatly criticized the proposed bill that seeks to make a mandatory vote for the Nigerians and warn that such laws will violate the freedom that is guaranteed constitutionally in the country.

The bill, which was sponsored by the Chairperson of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, proposed the sentences of sentence, including a six-month prison sentence or N100,000 fine, for voters who met the requirements that failed to participate in the election.

Abbas also believes that this initiative aims to increase citizenship participation and overcome the persistent problems of the low number of voters in Nigeria.

However, Falana, in a statement released Monday, urged parliamentary members to reconsider the bill because it was not in accordance with the main provisions of the 1999 Constitution.

He said: “I doubt that the speaker and his colleagues pay enough attention to the relevant constitutional provisions.

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“If not, they will realize that the constitutional mandatory voting is invalid in any particular material.”

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

The lawyer refers to the famous judicial precedent, including the case of the Supreme Court and the Dental Practitioner of the Disciplinary Court v. Okonkwo (2001), in which the court upholds the rights of Jehovah’s witness patients to reject blood transfusions for religious reasons. The court, led by the late Judge Emmanuel Ayoola, decided that the right to privacy and freedom of thought protecting individuals from coercion interference in very personal decisions.

“Likewise, the choice to choose – or not choose – is a personal decision that should not be criminalized,” explained Falana.

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