The 10th National Assembly’s joint committee will meet Monday to reconcile the Electoral Amendment Bill, focusing on electronic result transmission, before sending it to President Tinubu for assent.
Findings indicate that the joint panel, comprising members of both chambers, has been given a one-week deadline to resolve contentious provisions in the Bill—most notably those bordering on the electronic transmission of election results.
The harmonisation exercise follows the passage of differing versions of the legislation by the Senate and the House, with sharp disagreements over the scope and application of technology in result collation and transmission.
Under legislative procedure, when the two chambers pass varying versions of the same Bill, a conference committee is constituted to reconcile the differences and produce a single text acceptable to both sides before it is forwarded to the President.
The current amendment process is unfolding against the backdrop of controversies that followed the 2023 general election, particularly the failure of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to upload presidential election results to its Result Viewing Portal in real time.
The development has heightened public interest in the fate of the Electoral Amendment Bill, amid renewed debates over the electronic transmission of results and broader efforts to strengthen electoral transparency, credibility and public confidence in Nigeria’s democratic process.
Recall that the Senate passed the Electoral Act, 2022 (Repeal and Enactment) Bill, 2026, following the consideration and approval of its 155 clauses.
During clause-by-clause consideration, amendments were made to some provisions, while the majority were retained as proposed. A major amendment approved by the lawmakers was the reduction of the timeline for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to publish a Notice of Election from 360 days to 180 days.
The passage of the Bill comes amid mounting pressure on the Senate to conclude work on the Electoral Act amendment to provide a clear legal framework for INEC ahead of forthcoming elections.
