National assembly recommends voting right for married underage girls to INEC

INEC: The National Assembly has recommended voting rights for married underage girls to the electoral commission. This was in the National Assembly joint committee on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

They have made the recommendation to a technical committee that will work on the new electoral act proposed by the Federal lawmakers, even though the constitution currently places the eligible age for voting at 18.

This actually came two weeks ago after some stakeholders made a similar recommendation.

The chairman of the Senate committee of INEC Kabiru Gaya spoke at the inauguration of the recommendations is a unanimous decision by the joint panel.

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This is what Gaya said;

“The joint committee has proposed that if a lady who is not up to 18 years is married, she should be considered to be mature enough and be eligible to vote.”

However, after INEC chairman, Mahmood Yakubu said the issue of voting age is a constitutional matter and the law also recognizes 18 as marriageable age, Aisha Dukku, chairperson of the house of representatives committee on INEC said the recommendation cannot be thrown out because it was suggested by stakeholders at the public hearing.

Here’s what Dukku said;

“It is already in the electoral act amendments submitted in the last assembly, so it cannot be thrown away just like that.

“We should look at it and come up with something instead of throwing it away. It is not from us but from the stakeholders on the day of the public hearing held in the 8th assembly.”

All these decisions are because a girl who is 18 and is already married should be considered to have a voting right because she understands the journey of an adult.