There are hints that Members of the Joint National Assembly Conference Committee constituted to reconcile differences in the Electoral Amendment Bill passed by the Senate and the House of Representatives are to meet on Monday to harmonise the before transmitting to President Bola Tinubu for assent.
NewsSpecng gathered that the joint panel, made up of members from both chambers, has been given a one-week to sort out the contentious provisions in the bill regarding the electronic transmission of election results.
Both chambers had passed different versions as concerns result collation and transmission.
A National Assembly source confirmed that the harmonisation exercise would begin on Monday.
The current amendment process is coming on the heels of the controversies that trailed the 2023 general election, especially the failure of the Independent National Electoral Commission to upload presidential election results to its Result Viewing Portal in real time.
Civil society groups, opposition parties and several lawmakers have since pressed for clearer statutory backing for the electronic transmission of results to prevent ambiguity and strengthen electoral transparency ahead of 2027.
When approached after a recent interaction with journalists on the proposed meeting date, the lawmaker representing Bayelsa West, Senator Seriake Dickson, said Monday was a likely date for the harmonisation of the bill.
“I don’t know the actual date since I am not a member of the Conference Committee. But we are hoping it may take place next Monday,” he said.
Though no official communications from the NASS on the issue.
The development comes amid heightened public interest in the fate of the Electoral Amendment Bill, following recent disagreements over provisions relating to the electronic transmission of results
Senate reversed an earlier position and restored electronic transmission of election results to INEC’s Result Viewing Portal, IReV, while allowing manual collation as a fallback in the event of technological failure.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio had also indicated that the harmonised bill would be transmitted to President Tinubu for assent before the end of the month, raising expectations that the amendments could be concluded well ahead of preparations for the 2027 general election.
The outcome of the meeting is expected to determine the final shape of the amended Electoral Act and signal the National Assembly’s position on the central issue that has dominated electoral reform debates since the last general election — the place of technology in safeguarding the credibility of Nigeria’s polls.
Although the House approved real-time transmission of election results in Section 60 (3), the Senate’s version excluded it but bowed to pressure earlier in the week to approve electronic transmission with a provision that, when technology fails, manual transmission will suffice.
The House version read, “The Commission shall electronically transmit the results from each polling unit to the IREV portal in real time, and such transmission shall be done simultaneously with the physical collation of results.”
On its part, the Senate version provides that “The Presiding Officer shall electronically transmit the results from each polling unit to the INEC Result Viewing Portal, and such transmission shall be done after the prescribed Form EC8A has been signed and stamped by the Presiding Officer and countersigned by the candidates or polling agents where available at the polling unit.
“But if the electronic transmission of the result fails as a result of communication failure, and it becomes impossible to transmit the result electronically, the signed and stamped Form EC8A by the Presiding Officer, and countersigned by the candidates or polling agents where available, shall in such a case be the primary source of collation and declaration of results.”
The House also strengthened Section 31 of the Principal Act, which focused on the withdrawal of a candidate in an election.
In the Electoral Act 2022, the Section read, “A candidate may withdraw his or her candidature by notice in writing signed by him and delivered personally by the candidate to the political party that nominated him for election, and the political party shall convey such withdrawal to the Commission not later than 90 days to the election.”
The version amended by the 10th House read, “A candidate may withdraw his or her candidature by notice in writing signed by him together with a sworn affidavit and delivered personally by the candidate to the political party that nominated him for election, and the political party shall convey such withdrawal to the Commission not later than 90 days to the election.”
The House also amended Section 137 of the Principal Act on the Establishment of Area Council Election Appeal Tribunal, proposing in sub-section 7 that “The tribunal shall deliver a judgment in writing within 150 days from the date of the filing of the petition. This contrasts with the Principal Act, which provides for 180 days from the date a petition is filed.”
