NASS to harmonise Electoral Bill Monday

Lawmakers in the National Assembly of Nigeria are set to meet on Monday to harmonise differences in the Electoral Amendment Bill passed separately by the Nigerian Senate and the House of Representatives of Nigeria, ahead of transmission to Bola Tinubu for assent.

The joint conference committee has one week to resolve contentious provisions, particularly clauses on the electronic transmission of election results.

The move follows public outcry over the handling of result uploads during the Independent National Electoral Commission’s conduct of the 2023 general election and growing calls for stronger legal backing for technology-driven transparency before 2027.

While the House version mandates real-time electronic transmission of results to INEC’s Result Viewing Portal (IReV), the Senate version allows electronic transmission but retains manual collation as a fallback where technology fails.

Senator Seriake Dickson urged the committee to adopt the House position to boost public confidence, while Senate President Godswill Akpabio said the harmonised bill would be sent to the President before month’s end.

Chairman of the Senate judiciary committee, Adeniyi Adegbonmire, clarified that real-time transmission does not amount to electronic voting, stressing that results are still manually counted and only uploaded for public viewing.

Meanwhile, former Nigerian Bar Association president Olisa Agbakoba called for mandatory real-time electronic transmission in the law, arguing it would enhance transparency and reduce post-election disputes.

The committee’s decision is expected to shape the final structure of Nigeria’s amended Electoral Act and set the tone for reforms ahead of the 2027 general election.