The National Assembly on Tuesday approved the electronic transmission of election results but retained manual collation as a backup, triggering protests, a walkout by opposition lawmakers and heated debates in both chambers ahead of the 2027 general elections.
What should have been a routine legislative correction to the Electoral Act Amendment Bill instead degenerated into one of the most dramatic sittings of the 10th Assembly, exposing deep partisan fault lines ahead of the 2027 general elections.
In the Senate, 15 lawmakers, led by Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe (ADC, Abia South), stood defiantly against a controversial proviso in Clause 60(3) that recognises the manually completed Form EC8A as the primary source of collation where electronic transmission fails.
In the House of Representatives, the minority caucus staged a walkout, accusing the Speaker Tajudeen Abbas leadership of railroading amendments and frustrating attempts to insist on mandatory real-time electronic transmission without caveats.
Outside the complex, protesters — joined by former Minister of Education, Oby Ezekwesili — accused lawmakers of attempting to dilute electoral safeguards.
President of the Senate Akpabio and Speaker of the House of Reps Abbas
By sunset, both chambers had passed versions of the bill that preserve electronic upload of polling unit results to the Independent National Electoral Commission’s Result Viewing Portal, while stopping short of making real-time transmission mandatory without exception.
At the heart of the storm lies a familiar Nigerian dilemma – whether technology alone can be trusted to safeguard democracy.
Senate torn apart
Tuesday’s Senate plenary was tense from the outset.
The Upper Chamber had earlier passed the Electoral Act (Repeal and Re-Enactment) Bill, 2026, but was compelled to rescind its decision and recommit it to the Committee of the Whole after discrepancies were identified in several clauses, including those affecting timelines for the 2027 elections already announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission.
But it was Clause 60 — dealing with the transmission and collation of election results — that ignited tempers.
The final reenacted version of the controversial clause, particularly subsection (3), reads: “The Presiding Officer shall electronically transmit the results from each polling unit to the IREV portal, 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 agents where available, provided that if electronic transmission fails due to communication failure, Form EC8A shall remain the primary source of collation and declaration of the result.”
Proceedings later resumed with Abaribe demanding a division on the clause, insisting that senators must publicly record their positions.
The Abia South lawmaker had attempted a similar move during last week’s emergency plenary but withdrew under pressure, which sparked criticisms within the chamber.
His renewed insistence triggered a rowdy session but Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele intervened, stressing that “whether he has done it or not is now in the past. But it is within his (Abaribe) rights to call for it. Let us allow him.”
But Senate President Godswill Akpabio reminded the chamber of Abaribe’s earlier aborted attempt.
“People were mocking you on social media,” Akpabio said, noting that the previous demand had been withdrawn.
Opposition senators protested immediately, arguing that the matter was properly before the chamber.
Deputy Senate President Barau Jibrin cited Order 52(6) of the Senate Standing Orders, contending that it would be out of order to revisit provisions already ruled upon by the presiding officer.
That submission sparked uproar.
Senator Sunday Karimi briefly confronted Abaribe across the aisle as voices rose.
Bamidele insisted that since he had moved a motion for rescission, previous decisions were void, and Abaribe’s demand for a division was procedurally sound.
