Reps retain manual, real-time transmission in Electoral Act amidst rowdy session

2026-02-17 - 13:28

By Gift ChapiOdekina The House of Representatives on Tuesday descended into a rowdy session after nearly two hours behind closed doors as lawmakers reopened debate on the Electoral Act Amendment Bill 2025 and insisted on clause-by-clause consideration of the contentious legislation ahead of the 2027 general elections. The House had earlier resolved to rescind its December 2025 passage of the amendment bill in order to address identified inconsistencies and unintended consequences flagged by a harmonisation committee comprising leaders of both chambers, members of the conference committee, clerks of the Senate and House, and legal drafters from the National Assembly’s Directorate of Legal Services. Moving the motion for rescission under Order Nine, Rule 6 of the Standing Orders, Hon. Francis E. Waiwe (Delta) said the objective was to safeguard the integrity of Nigeria’s electoral framework by ensuring fairness, inclusivity, administrative efficiency and public confidence. After adopting the motion, the House dissolved into the Committee of the Whole, presided over by the Deputy Speaker, for detailed consideration of the bill. However, tensions flared when the Deputy Speaker initially attempted to take the report in bulk rather than clause by clause. Lawmakers immediately objected, shouting protests and insisting that given the far-reaching implications of the amendments for the 2027 polls, each clause must be thoroughly debated and voted on individually. Following the uproar, the Deputy Speaker halted proceedings and restarted the process, agreeing to subject the bill to clause-by-clause consideration. During deliberations, the House adopted Clause 60(3) to provide for both real-time electronic transmission and manual transmission of election results. But the decision was not without fierce debate. Rep. Bamidele Salam moved to delete the provision on manual transmission, arguing that retaining it could undermine the credibility and technological advancement of the electoral process. The motion was seconded by Rep. Kingsley Chinda. When the matter was put to a voice vote, however, the “nays” prevailed, effectively defeating the attempt to remove manual transmission from the clause. Vanguard News