Speaker of the House of Representatives, Honourable Yakubu Dogara, has called for the amendment of the Electoral Act to accommodate the use of card readers in elections.

Speaker Dogara made the appeal on Friday in Abuja at a retreat organised for the House Committee on Electoral and Political Parties to examine the issues that arose from the last general elections.

He urged the committee and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to give legal backing to the use of card readers in the coming 2019 general elections.

The Chairperson of the Committee, Honourable Aishatu Dukku, also expressed worries on how to ensure that the bills were thoroughly scrutinised.

The Executive Director of Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre, Clement Nwankwo, expressed hopes that any reform of the Electoral Act should be done in 12 months.

In his reaction, the INEC Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, highlighted the improvement made in the electoral process so far to ensure a smooth running of the 2019 elections.

The House of Representatives also assured Nigerians that the retreat would produce an outcome that would strengthen the electoral process and deepen democracy.