PDP logo
July 30, 2025
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Lagos State chapter says it is supporting proposal to amend the 1999 Constitution for all elections in Nigeria to be conducted same day, effective 2027.
The PDP Vice-Chairman (Lagos Central), Mr. Hakeem Olaylemi, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Lagos.
The proposal is being spear-headed by the House of Representatives Committee on Constitution Review, chaired by Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu.
The proposal is also being considered as part of broader constitutional amendments, following recent zonal public hearings across the six geo-political zones.
The amendment, if passed, would mandate the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct presidential, governorship, National Assembly and state assembly polls in a single day.
According to Olalemi, the proposal, if allowed through, will reduce costs of logistics for electoral umpire, political parties, candidates, encourage the electorate by eliminating staggered elections and reduce bandwagon effects.
“If this amendment is allowed to scale through, it will bring Nigeria to some form of breakthrough in the democracy we should be practicing.
“A single day election will not only help our democracy, it will also reduce wastage of resources we expend every four years on elections logistics. This will make our elections freer and fairer and make our democracy stronger.
“It will help our democracy a lot. Many people will want to participate in elections with this.
“A single day election will increase political participation because the usual layers of stress people undergo discourages many voters from participating during elections.
“With this ease, the recurrent problem of voter apathy affecting our democracy will be reduced.
“How I wish the national assembly would really see reasons to allow this bill to pass, it will help our elections in so many ways,” the PDP chieftain said.
According to him, those who do not want Nigeria’s electoral system to grow will not allow such proposal to pass for selfish political purposes.
Olalemi said: “I don’t think anyone should stand against this move.
“Someday, I believe Nigeria’s election and democracy will grow. It is however cheaper and more efficient for us to do our elections in one day.
“If all elections are held on same day, all the candidates of a political party will find it easy to pool together resources to prosecute electioneering, including logistics for party agents.
“In fact, reducing the shutdown of the nation’s economy through total restriction of human and vehicular movement on election days from two days to only one day is a huge advantage.
“If we look at the advantages, we should embrace this as another milestone in the nation’s democracy,” Olalemi said. (NAN)
