The House of Representatives has amended the Electoral Act 2026 to criminalise dual membership of political parties, prescribing a fine of N10 million, a maximum of two years’ imprisonment or both for offenders.
The amendment, contained in a bill seeking to strengthen provisions on political party membership, was passed during Wednesday plenary after lawmakers considered it at the Committee of the Whole.
The proposed amendment introduces three new subsections to Section 77 of the Act, which deals with political party membership.
Its provision states that any individual discovered to be registered in more than one political party at the same time would have such memberships declared invalid.
“A person shall not be registered as a member of more than one political party at the same time,” the provision states.
It further provides that where it is established that a person holds dual membership, such membership will be invalidated and the individual will cease to be recognised as a valid member of any political party until the situation is regularised in accordance with the Electoral Act and the constitution of the affected political party.
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The amendment also prescribes stiff penalties for violators.
“A person who knowingly registers or maintains membership in more than one political party at the same time commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine of N10,000,000 or to imprisonment for a term of two years, or both,” the bill provides.
During debate on the amendment, lawmakers argued that the practice of belonging to multiple political parties undermines political integrity and creates complications during party primaries and candidate nominations.
Abubakar Fulata (APC-Jigawa), however, raised constitutional concerns, noting that denying a person membership of two parties could conflict with Section 40 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), which guarantees freedom of association.
He suggested that the law should instead limit citizens to membership in only one political party at a time.
Other lawmakers strongly backed the amendment, describing dual party membership as dishonest and a form of political misrepresentation.
“You cannot put your legs in two different houses at the same time. For the sake of moral justice and honesty, you should belong to one political party at any given time,” one member said.
Lawmakers also discussed how violations would be detected, noting that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) already receives party membership registers before primaries, which could help identify individuals registered in multiple parties.
Some members expressed concern that individuals could be wrongly implicated if their names appear in more than one party register without their consent.
In response, it was noted that the law applies only where dual membership is established “knowingly”, meaning deliberate action must be proven.
After deliberations, the Committee of the Whole adopted the clauses of the bill and its long title before the House reverted to plenary to report progress.
If eventually signed into law, the amendment is expected to strengthen the legal framework governing political party affiliation and curb cases of multiple party memberships in Nigeria’s electoral process.
Source:Eagle online
