THE Senate has appointed 12 members to serve on a conference committee with the House of Representatives to harmonise differences on the Electoral Act Amendment Bill 2026, following heated plenary debates over provisions on electronic transmission of election results.
The Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, reached the decision after senators adopted the Votes and Proceedings of Wednesday, February 4, paving the way for the expansion of the Senate’s earlier nine-member conference committee to match the 12-member delegation already constituted by the House.
“The information we have is that our counterparts in the House of Representatives are 12 in number. While we have nine here, so we just have to move our number to 12, so that we can have 12-12,” Akpabio said.
He subsequently named Simon Lalong as chairman of the Senate conference committee, alongside other members
Tense plenary over voting procedure
A central flashpoint in the debate was a provision on the electronic transmission of election results.
The House of Representatives had passed a version of the bill mandating real-time electronic transmission of polling unit results to the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) Results Viewing Portal (IREV), a reform backed by civil society and opposition figures who say it would strengthen transparency.
However, during Senate consideration, lawmakers rejected a proposal to make real-time transmission mandatory. They instead adopting the existing legal provision that result transmission be done “in a manner as prescribed by the Commission.” Critics immediately condemned the move as weakening electoral transparency.
The debate on Tuesday began when the Senate Chief Whip, Mohammed Tahir Monguno, moved an amended proposal, effectively introducing a different motion.
He claimed to have seconded the motion, but when asked to clarify its content, he was unable to explain, worsening the uproar in the chamber.
Monguno insisted that he had seconded the earlier motion, which had already been passed but later rescinded, specifically regarding Section 60, Subsection 3 of the bill, part of which stipulates that the presiding officer should uphold results on the IREV portal after Form ECHA has been signed, in cases where electronic transmission fails and it becomes impossible to transmit results. The provision essentially designates Form ECHA as the primary source for election results in such circumstances.
A subsequent vote was conducted, and members voted unanimously.
However, Abia South senator, Enyinnaya Abaribe invoked Order 72, which allows any lawmaker to challenge the opinion of the Senate President or presiding chairman by requesting a division, effectively calling for a motion to be voted on individually. The move sparked some confusion and debate on the floor, with colleagues questioning why he had taken that action.
After a brief pause while senators reviewed the relevant pages of the bill, Abaribe withdrew the order he had invoked.
The ICIR reported that this emergency plenary followed growing criticisms and protests that trailed the Senate’s position.
Ahead of the emergency sitting, some lawmakers acknowledged flaws in how the Senate handled the debate. The lawmaker representing Bauchi Central, Abdul Ningi, said on Channels TV on Monday that the Senate could make the voting process and individual stances on the electronic transmission provision transparent.
Meanwhile, Nigerians have continued to stage a peaceful demonstration at the gate of the National Assembly since last week Friday, demanding that the Senate include a compulsory provision for real-time electronic transmission of election results in the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill, warning that Nigeria’s democracy would not survive without credible polls and real-time electronic result transmission.
They said failure to include the clause amounted to “setting the country on fire” over a minimum transparency requirement.
The ICIR reports that Nigeria’s elections have been flawed, with many election outcomes addressed by courts. Many citizens have accused the court of miscarrying justice, with judgement allegedly bought by moneybags.
In 2007, after winning litigation against his victory at the Supreme Court, the late former President Yar’Adua admitted that the election that brought him into office was flawed. He promised electoral reforms, but the nation has yet to get it right almost two decades later, as successive leaders failed to deliver legal document for achieving it.
Nanji is an investigative journalist with the ICIR. She has years of experience in reporting and broadcasting human angle stories, gender inequalities, minority stories, and human rights issues. She has documented sexual war crimes in armed conflict, sex for grades in Nigerian Universities, harmful traditional practices and human trafficking.
Late ‘Yar’Adua assumed office in 2007 not 2027 as you said