The Senate has passed the Electoral Act, 2022 (Repeal and Re-Enactment) Bill 2026, but not without controversy.
Grassroots Parrot reports that during clause-by-clause consideration of the bill, a heated debate erupted over Clause 60, which deals with the transmission of election results.
Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe demanded a formal vote (division) on a provision that allows manual transmission of results if electronic transmission fails.
After a rowdy session and procedural arguments, 55 senators voted to retain the manual transmission proviso, while 15 opposed it.
Before this vote, the Senate had moved to rescind (reverse) its earlier passage of the bill to correct issues identified in the legislation. Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele explained that the reversal became necessary after INEC announced February 2027 as the date for the next general elections.
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Lawmakers realized that certain provisions in the amended bill—particularly the requirement that elections be scheduled at least 360 days before the expiration of tenure—could create timing conflicts.
One major concern raised was that applying the 360-day rule might push the 2027 presidential and National Assembly elections into the Ramadan period.
Senators argued that holding elections during Ramadan could affect voter turnout, logistics, participation, and the overall credibility of the electoral process.
This prompted the Senate to return the bill to the Committee of the Whole for fresh deliberations and technical corrections.
In addition to the timing issue, lawmakers discovered multiple drafting inconsistencies across several clauses of the bill, including errors in cross-referencing and numbering.
These technical flaws, alongside the debate over electronic versus manual transmission of results, led to tense exchanges in the chamber and even a brief closed-door session.
Despite the disagreements, the Senate eventually proceeded with the reconsideration and passed the revised bill.