Proceedings in the House of Representatives turned rowdy on Tuesday as lawmakers clashed over a motion seeking to overturn the passage of the Electoral Act Amendment Bill, specifically targeting the clause on electronic transmission of results.
The dispute erupted during plenary when Francis Waive, chairman of the House Committee on Rules and Business, moved a motion for the chamber to rescind its decision on the bill, which had been passed on December 23, 2025.
The original version of the bill passed by the House included a mandate for the real-time transmission of election results to the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) result viewing portal (IReV).
When Speaker Tajudeen Abbas put the motion to rescind to a voice vote, the “nays” appeared louder than the “ayes.” However, the Speaker ruled that the “nays” had it—a decision that immediately triggered protests from lawmakers who began hollering in objection.
Amid the uproar, Abbas called for an executive session to resolve the impasse. The proposal for a closed-door meeting was met with further resistance, but the Speaker moved the House into an executive session nonetheless.
It would be recalled that the lower chamber had previously distinguished itself by adopting a firm stance on electronic transmission. The clause approved in December stated that the “presiding officer shall electronically transmit the results from each polling unit to the IReV portal in real time.”
This position put the House at odds with the Senate, which earlier this month passed its own version of the bill but rejected the real-time electronic transmission proposal. Following public outcry, the Senate later rescinded its decision and approved electronic transmission—but with a caveat allowing manual collation as a fallback if technology fails.
With both chambers now holding differing versions of the bill on this and other sections, a conference committee has been constituted to harmonize the legislation.
Civil society organizations (CSOs) have urged the National Assembly to adopt the House’s original, stronger version on transmission of results. Tuesday’s aborted attempt to rescind that clause suggests the battle over the future of Nigeria’s electoral integrity is far from over.
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