Experts Call for Introduction of Election Tax

Electoral experts from West and Southern Africa have strongly called for the introduction of Election Tax on corporate entities as part of their stake to guarantee a stable democracy. This, they reasoned, would be part of the effort at reducing the huge cost of elections on government which are usually confronted with how to respond to other competing demands.

Apart from the cost of review of voters register which gulps between 40 to 50 per cent of their rising budgets, the increasing deployment of technology by Election Management Bodies (EMBs) designed to ensure “the sanctity and integrity of the ballot”, according to chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Prof. Mahmood Ya ku bu, is adduced for the spiral ling costs of election son the continent.

“Given the deficit of infrastructure and expertise in many countries in our sub-regions and the regularity with which elections are conducted, concerns have been raised about cost, choice and effectiveness of technology”, he explained.

At the cost of $25 per voter, Kenya which had two presi- dential elections in a spate of two months in 2017 currently holds the ace of conducting the most expensive election in Africa. The Democratic Republic of Congo (DR C) conducted its 2011 election at a staggering $44 per voter while Ghana’s2016 electioncost $18per voter. Nigeria’ s watershed election in 2015 which led to the defeat of incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan was $8.5 per voter.

“The corporate organisations need to share the debilitating cost of elections. They are not presently investing in elections but you need elections to sustain democratic stability in Nigeria or any other African country.