Any wholesale draft constitution to replace the 1997 Constitution must be subjected to a referendum after the third reading on a motion for its adoption. The Constitution (Promulgation) Bill 2024 must be submitted to the IEC for a referendum if abdopted by the National Assembly.
The question of voter registration must be addressed by the IEC before such a referendum. Since 2017, the nation has been putting the cart before the horse by working on an Elections Bill without working on the birth of the Constitution of the Third Republic as a matter of priority. An Elections Act that is fit for purpose can only come with an amendment of the 1997 Constitution or the promulgation of the Constitution of the Third Republic.
Hence the IEC has to work on an agenda for registration of voters as quickly as possible in preparation for a referendum which could take place next year, 2025. The three months publication in the Gazette of the BADC would elapse in the second week of December 2024 and the second publication would elapse in the last week of December, 2024. Hence the rest of the legislative process could only take place in 2025.
