The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, on Tuesday said henceforth, voting on serious bills by members of the House will be done electronically.
Gbajabiamila, who disclosed this as part of announcements made at the opening of the plenary on Tuesday, said the new system will take off on Wednesday, July 3.
He said that the e-voting was part of the reforms promised by his leadership.
“In front of you on your seats, you have little panels that we installed. This is in keeping with some of the reforms we have talked about, that Nigerians will see. By tomorrow, (Wednesday, July 3), I expect it to be fully operational. The whole system is based on the fact that we will soon now be having e-voting in this chamber.
“Now, this will not be applicable to all motions and bills because we have several of them. For those that we consider important and of significance, we will be adopting the e-voting system. We don’t need your voting cards anymore, you only need to press a button; and it tells you who voted, which side they voted for.
“This is for the purpose of accountability which we have promised Nigerians. Everybody needs to be accountable to their constituents, to make sure we are doing exactly what they asked us to come and do here. So, I am glad to announce that progress has been made. I believe that by tomorrow, everything will be fully operational.
“Secondly, the building and the premises are now fully wi-fi enabled. So, it will be more convenient for members, especially those who want to do their research both in the offices and around the offices, moving forward from today,” the Speaker said.
