The Senate, on Tuesday, raised the membership of its Conference Committee for the harmonisation of amendments to the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill, 2025, from nine to 12 with a view to matching the number in the House of Representatives.
The President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio, made the announcement during an emergency plenary session at the National Assembly complex, Abuja.
The three new members to the Committee list are Senators Isah Jibrin (APC Kogi East), Banigo Harry Ipalibo (APC, Rivers West) and Onyekachi Nwaebonyi (APC Ebonyi North), respectively.
Akpabio had last week appointed Senator Simon Lalong (APC Plateau South) as the committee chairman, and Senators Tahir Monguno (APC Borno North), Adamu Aliero (APC Kebbi Central), Orji Uzor Kalu (APC Abia North), Aba Moro (PDP Benue South), Asuquo Ekpeyong (APC Cross River South), Iya Abass (PDP Adamawa Central),’ Adetokunbo Abiru (APC Lagos East), and Adeniyi Adegbonmire (APC Ondo Central) as members.
According to him, the Committee members will liaise with their counterparts in the House of Representatives to reconcile differences between the passed versions of the bill by both chambers before the final passage for the assent of President Bola Tinubu.
The President of the Senate urged them to meet and carry out their assignment on time and report back to the Chamber for consideration and passage.
There had been concern by many Nigerians over the delay in the passage of the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill by the National Assembly which has led to sharp criticism in the the media.
Recently, there were serious agitations in the polity about the reported rejection of mandatory and real-time electronic transmission of election results from the bill by the Senate.
This led many activists, pro-democracy groups and politicians to storm the National Assembly complex on Monday and Tuesday for mass protest, arguing that removal of electronic transmission of election results would undermine transparency and electoral credibility ahead of the 2027 general election results.
The Senate has, however, amended the Clause 60(3) in the bill by adopting the electronic transmission of results, though without making it mandatory, just as it removed the caveat, “real-time” from the clause.
