The Plateau State of Assembly has passed the amended bill establishing the state independent electoral commission that regulates local council elections.
The house had earlier deliberated on a report submitted by its committee chairman, Hon Jackson Nangwang, on parastatals and World Bank projects, on the bill to establish the state independent electoral commission.

After careful deliberations by the house, the bill was subsequently passed into law.
Governor  Simon Lalong had earlier sent the Plateau State Independent Electoral Commission law (PLASIEC) for a repeal which the house had deliberated upon.

In the report, Hon Nangwang said the committee had observed that in the repealed law, local government and PLASIEC laws were related,  and that some forms of electoral malpractices,
problem of time constraint, voting by proxy e.t.c are challenges generally faced due to the idea of election accreditation going on separately from the voting, among others.

“The committee also observed that no provision is made for ballot papers relating to persons with disabilities, especially braille prints for visual impaired voters, ” the report observed.

The passed law has now been transmitted to the Governor for his assent.

Meanwhile, the house committee chairman on Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Hon.Ibrahim Baba Hassan, has told journalists that with the passage of the bill into law,  the onus now lies on the executive to assent and make PLASIEC, conduct elections into the local councils.

“The people have been demanding for the conduct of local elections, and the executive would always say the bill is with us, thank God today we have passed the bill, ” he added.

Reacting to the action of the lawmakers, legislative liaison officer, to the Governor, Hon. Joe Bukar, said with the passage of the law, it is certain that very soon LG elections would hold.

“The Governor has said the conduct of local government elections is in the hands of the process, which means one of the major processes has been achieved today and is only awaiting for the Governor’s assent,” he added.

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House of Assembly passes Plateau State Electoral Bill