A bill that would require winners of presidential and gubernatorial candidates to receive more than 50% of the total votes cast was rejected by the House of Representatives on Wednesday.
The measure, sponsored by Awaji-inombek Abiante (PDP, Rivers), aimed to change the 1999 constitution by removing the need for candidates running for governor and president to receive a simple majority vote.
In accordance with the constitution, a candidate for president must receive 25 percent of the votes in a minimum of two-thirds of the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), in addition to an overall simple majority of the votes cast nationally.
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If a candidate does not meet both requirements, there is a run-off between the candidate who receives the most votes overall and the candidate who receives the most votes from the majority of States.
However, Abiante’s measure suggested that a candidate must receive a majority of the total votes, or more than half, in a presidential contest with more than two contenders.
Legislators soundly rejected the bill before it was even debated.
The Speaker of the House, Tajudeen Abbas, asked for a seconder for the bill after Abiante presented it. Afterwards, the bill was defeated by a larger margin of “no” votes following its seconding and voice vote.
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Since bills are usually rejected after the main idea has been discussed, the method of rejecting this particular measure was extremely unique.
As a result, Mr. Tajudeen decided in support of the people who wanted the motion dismissed.
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