A bill to institute the electoral offences tribunal has been approved for a second reading by the House of Representatives.
On Thursday, the Senate version of the bill which demands a 20-year prison sentence for ballot box snatchers combined with numerous other bills was reviewed.
You may recall that the Senate passed the bill last year and sent it to the House for approval. However because there are similar bills in the House, it decided to combine them all into one.
Mohammed Monguno, who led the discussion on the bill, claimed that it will make sure that only the appropriate candidates complete the process.
Aisha Dukku, the chairman of the House Committee on Electoral Matters, commented on the bill and claimed that INEC lacked the competence to prosecute electoral offenders.
She claimed that the bill will take over the prosecution of electoral criminals once it was established.
The bill was passed and then sent to the Committee on Electoral Matters for additional legislative action.
