OPPOSITION lawmakers in the House of Representatives, on Tuesday, staged a walkout after disagreeing with the ruling party members’ position on the Electoral Act Amendment Bill. 

The development arose from the proposed change to Section 60(3) of the bill which requires that election results be sent electronically to the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) Result Viewing (IReV) portal, The section also allows manual transmission if electronic transmission fails.

It states: “The presiding officer shall electronically transmit the results from each polling unit to REV portal and such transmission shall be done after the prescribed Form ECSA has been signed and stamped by the presiding officer and/or countersigned by the candidates or polling agents where available at the polling unit.

“Provided that if the electronic transmission of the result fails as a result of communication failure and it becomes impossible to transmit the result contained in form: EC&A signed and stamped by the presiding officer and countersigned by the candidates or polling agents where available at the polling unit, the form EC&A shall remain the primary source of collation and declaration of the result”.

Opposition members demanded that this condition be deleted. They argued that election results should only be uploaded electronically, without alternative method or a backup. Their pleas were rejected, leading to the walkout.

The House eventually had its way and concurred with the Senate’s position on the amendment.

The House had in 2025 passed a bill requiring election results to be sent to IReV in real-time.

The clause stated that the “presiding officer shall electronically transmit the results from each polling unit to the IReV portal in real time, and such transmission shall be done after the prescribed form EC8A has been signed and stamped by the presiding officer and/or countersigned by the candidates or polling unit agents, where available at the polling unit”.

Prior to the walkout by the lawmakers, The ICIR reported that the House was thrown into chaos on Tuesday as lawmakers clashed over a motion seeking to reconsider the Electoral Act Amendment Bill 2025.

Francis Waive, Chairman of the House Committee on Rules and Business, moved to withdraw the bill passed on December 23, 2025, citing the need to address irregularities in the electoral system before the 2027 general elections.

Even with the ‘nays’ exercising dominance over the voice vote, Speaker Tajudeen Abbas ruled in favour of the ‘ayes’, leading to protests from lawmakers. The session was eventually moved to an executive session, in the face of opposition from some members.