15 Lawmakers Protest As Senate Okays E-transmission, Manual Backup

The Senate on Tuesday passed the Electoral Act, 2022 (Repeal and Re-Enactment) Bill 2026, following a feeble opposition to Clause 60.

The upper chamber resumed proceedings with a demand for a division on Clause 60 raised by Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe (ADC/Abia South), prompting a rowdy session.

After the tension had been doused, the senators went into a closed-door session but were unable to resolve the issue of reverting to real-time electronic transmission of election results. When they came back, the drama continued.

The conflict of interest and debate intensified until Senator Abaribe again called for a Division.

Recall that the Abia South lawmaker called for a similar division at last week’s emergency plenary but developed cold feet under pressure.

 His position caused uproar and grumblings among the senators until the Senate Leader, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, called for calm.

“Whether or not he has done that in the past, it is within his (Abaribe’s) rights to call for it. Let us allow him,” he voiced.

Senate President Godswill Akpabio, however, recalled his last attempt at calling for a Division concerning the issue of retaining real-time electronic transmission ended in fiasco, adding that “People were mocking you on social media.”

He stressed that the demand had been previously withdrawn, but several opposition senators immediately objected.

Deputy Senate President Barau Jibrin, citing Order 52(6) of the Senate Standing Orders, also argued that it would be out of order to revisit any provision already ruled on by the Senate President.

The submission sparked another uproar in the chamber, during which Senator Sunday Karimi briefly confronted Abaribe.

Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele reminded lawmakers that he had sponsored the motion for rescission, underscoring that the Senate’s prior decisions were no longer valid.

He maintained that Senator Abaribe’s demand was consistent with the motion.

Every time Akpabio tried to raise the issue mockingly, Abaribe and a few opposition lawmakers shouted him down.

Eventually, the Senate President succumbed to pressure and backed the call to vote to decide the rescission and re-committal of the Electoral Act 2022 Repeal and Enactment Bill 2026.

Akpabio ordered that the debate be put to a vote by calling for those in support of the manual backup provision added to the original Electoral Act amendment to signify by raising their hands.

A total of 55 lawmakers, including the Senate Deputy Minority Leader, Senator Lere Oyewunmi, stood up and raised their hands high.

When the call went out for those who opposed the proviso and the real-time electronic transmission of election results, only Abaribe and his 14 followers responded.

Consequently, the ‘ayes’ had it, paving the way for the Senate to approve the e-transmission of results with manual backup for the second time in two weeks.

Under the amended proviso, the manually completed and signed EC8A form will constitute the primary basis for collation and declaration of results where electronic transmission is disrupted by network or communication challenges.

But before the issue of division came up, it was the same lawmakers who brought up the motion to recommit and reenact what they had done before.

What this means is that everything they did before the extraordinary plenary was jettisoned as they started on fresh ground.

Despite the clause-by-clause process, the eventual outcome was no different from the one that caused public outrage in the wake of the bill’s passage last week.

One of the clauses reviewed was Clause 28, which concerns the likely adjustment of the statutory timeline for issuing the election timetable from 360 days.

The Senate also said it met with INEC to avoid conflicts between the election dates and the Ramadan season.

But following the crushing defeat, some aggrieved lawmakers who opposed the rejection of real-time transmission of election results walked out of the plenary one by one.

Rising under Order 52(6), Senate Leader Bamidele moved to reverse the earlier passage of the bill and return it to the Committee of the Whole.

He explained that the motion followed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)’s announcement that the 2027 general elections would be held in February 2027, after consultations with the National Assembly leadership.

Bamidele noted that stakeholders raised concerns that the proposed election date conflicted with the law’s requirement that elections be scheduled at least 360 days before the expiration of tenure, as stipulated in Clause 28. He added that elections during Ramadan could affect voter turnout, logistics, stakeholder participation, and the overall inclusiveness and credibility of the process.

The motion also highlighted discrepancies in the bill’s Long Title and multiple clauses, including Clauses 6, 9, 10, 22, 23, 28, 29, 32, 42, 47, 51, 60, 62, 64, 65, 73, 77, 86, 87, 89, 93, and 143.

These issues reportedly affected cross-referencing, serial numbering, and internal consistency within the legislation.

Addressing the plenary after the drama, Akpabio thanked the senators who voted on both sides of the debate.

He said, “Your minority status notwithstanding, you showed overwhelming courage. You proved that democracy works.

“I also want to thank those who voted for the proviso to remain, that you have saved democracy by making sure that we don’t go on continuous reruns and repeats of elections. By ensuring that the primary mode of election results is the form EC8A.

“I want to also thank the Senate for introducing electronic transmission of polling unit results through the portal to the IReV, which will now make it possible for election monitors, including foreigners, who monitor our results, who are not able to visit the 176,000 plus polling units in Nigeria, to see the polling unit results dropping into the IReV,” he said

Akpabio, however, remained silent on whether the 2027 presidential election date had been shifted from the earlier February 20 to January 13.