The House of Representatives on Wednesday, March 11, amended the Electoral Act 2026 to criminalise any form of multiple political party membership.
With the newly amended law, any individual who is found guilty of belonging to more than one political party would be liable to get a fine of N10 million and a maximum jail term of two years.
On the floor of the plenary, the House of Representatives had introduced three different new subsections to section 77 of the Electoral Act 2026.
The section provides conditiona for which an individual can belong to a political party.
However, with the new amendment to the Act, anyone with more than one membership can be said not to belong to any party.
The new subsection reads, “A person shall not be registered as a member of more than one political party at the same time.
“Where it is established that a person is registered as a member of more than one political party at the same time, such dual membership shall be void, and the person shall cease to be recognised as a valid member of any political party pending regularisation in accordance with the provisions of this Act and the constitution of the political party concerned,” it stated.
In addition, it also noted that any person who intentionally registers his or her membership with multiple political parties commits a crime.
“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,” it added.
The new amendment by the Lower Chamber is anticipated to aid in strengthening the legal framework governing party affiliation.
It is also expected to reduce the cases of dual or multiple political party membership among Nigerians and politicians alike.