…To Harmonise Position With Reps
The president of the Senate, Dr. Ahmad Lawan has constituted a seven-man committee saddled with the responsibilities of meeting with the House of Representatives team on the controversial Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill to harmonise the positions taken by both chambers on the electronic transmission of results.
Lawan made this announcement at Wednesday’s plenary session.
Senator Abdullahi Yahaya, who represents Kebbi North Senatorial District of Kebbi State, was named as the chairman of committee.
Other members of the Senate committee include Senator Kabiru Gaya (North-West); Senator Ajibola Basiru (South-West); Senator Danjuma Goje (North-East); Senator Uche Ekwunife (Southeast); Senator Sani Musa (North-Central) and Senator Mathew Urhoghide (South-South).
The seven-member committee will meet the House of Representatives committee for harmonization on the electoral act bill.
Recall that the two Chambers of the National Assembly had both passed the bill.
The New Diplomat had reported that Senate had passed the electoral act amendment bill 2021 despite rowdy session.
In the bill, the Senate rejected the electronic transmission of results by Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). The Senate while considering the Electoral Act Amendment Bill voted that the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and the National Assembly be given exclusive powers to determine the use of electronic transmission in an election.
Similarly, the House of Representatives voted against the electronic transmission of results in the bill.
Although the bill had been passed by both Chambers, the mode of transmission of election results was not clearly stated.
The two Chambers had passed the Electoral Act Bill without agreement on the mode of transmission of election results.
While the Senate’s version of the Bill stipulates that INEC needs to get clearance from the NCC with approval from the Senate that there is sufficient mobile network coverage to transmit results electronically, the House’s version provided that INEC can transmit election results electronically where and when practicable.
The conference committee is expected to reconcile the positions of the two chambers.
