Yiaga Africa unequivocally rejects the proposed bill under consideration in the National Assembly seeking to introduce compulsory voting in Nigeria and prescribing a six-month jail term on eligible voters who refuse to vote at elections. The said bill is conceived as a legislative intervention to address the abysmally low
voter turnout. While the rationale for the bill is plausible because it aims to address one of the biggest challenges in Nigeria’s electoral system, the strong-arm approach adopted by the bill is draconian and it constitutes a gross violation of constitutionally guaranteed fundamental rights. Indeed, the right to abstain from voting is itself a legitimate form of political expression protected under domestic
and international human rights law
