Reps in rowdy session over motion to rescind passage of Electoral Act amendment

Proceedings in the house of representatives turned rowdy on Tuesday as lawmakers disagreed over a motion seeking to rescind the passage of the Electoral Act Amendment bill.

During plenary, Francis Waive, chairman of the house of representatives committee on rules and business, moved a motion for the house to reverse its decision on the bill which was passed on December 23, 2025.

When Tajudeen Abbas, speaker of the house, put the motion to a voice vote, the “nays” were louder than the “ayes”, but he ruled that the ayes had it.

The ruling triggered protests from lawmakers, who began hollering in objection. Abbas subsequently called for an executive session, but the proposal was also rejected.

Despite the resistance, the speaker moved the house into an executive session.

BACKGROUND

When the green chamber passed the electoral act in December, it adopted a proposal mandating the real-time transmission of election results to the Independent National Electoral Commission’s result viewing portal (IReV).

The approved clause states that the “presiding officer shall electronically transmit the results from each polling unit to the IReV portal in real time, and such transmission shall be done after the prescribed form EC8A has been signed and stamped by the presiding officer and/or countersigned by the candidates or polling unit agents, where available at the polling unit”.

Early this month, the senate passed the Electoral Act amendment bill but rejected the proposal for real-time electronic transmission of election results — a move that has sparked protests and calls for lawmakers to reverse the decision.

On Tuesday, the upper legislative chamber rescinded its decision and approved the electronic transmission of election results to IReV, with a clause that manual collation should serve as a fallback if technology fails.

Due to the differences, the senate and the house of representatives constituted a conference committee to harmonise the versions of the bill passed by both chambers.

There are other sections of the proposed legislation where the senate and the house differ.

Civil society organisations (CSOs) have asked the national assembly to adopt the version on the transmission of results passed by the house.