Tuesday, April 12, 2022, marked a historic day for Caritas Nigeria/JDPC and the Church in Nigeria when a team of six led by Caritas Nigeria Good Governance Focal Person, Sir Mark Asu-Obi, submitted to the Executive Secretary Rev Fr Uchechukwu Obodoechina a simplified version of the Nigerian Electoral Act 2022 recently signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari.
It may be recalled that at an earlier meeting of all JDPC coordinators held on March 20, 2021, with Most Rev. Matthew Hassan Kukah, Bishop of Sokoto Diocese in attendance, the need to reduce the new Electoral Act law into a simplified form for members of the common man was underscored and Caritas Nigeria was given the mandate to carry out the task for which a team of experts was promptly constituted.
Other members of the team included Rev Fr (Bar.) Joseph Ilorah, a priest and practising lawyer; Dr. Grace Dafiel, a public law expert; Princely Hamza Aliyu, the Director of an NGO, Grassroot Advancement; Bar Victor Opatolla, a legal practitioner; and Mr Joe Nkamuke, the research and documentation lead for Caritas Nigeria.
Receiving the document, Fr Obodoechina thanked the team for their selfless commitment to the task of reducing the 171- page Electoral Act into a 28 – page document that will eventually enable the woman in the remote village understand election matters and be guided appropriately .
With this development, further action is required by way of review and ratification before mass production and distribution to stakeholders across all dioceses in Nigeria will commence for use in educating and mobilising citizens to be involved in politics ahead of the 2023 General Elections.
