By Obinna Uballa
Opposition lawmakers in the House of Representatives on Tuesday staged a dramatic walkout from plenary, accusing their All Progressives Congress (APC) counterparts of being thieves.
The opposition lawmakers can be heard chanting “APC ole” (thief in Yoruba language) in a video shared by TheCable, an online newspaper, as they staged a walkout.
The New Diplomat had reported that proceedings descended into chaos over a controversial motion seeking to rescind the passage of the Electoral Act Amendment Bill.
The uproar followed a motion moved by Francis Waive, Chairman of the House Committee on Rules and Business, who urged the chamber to reverse its earlier decision on the bill passed on December 23, 2025.
The bill had mandated the real-time electronic transmission of election results from polling units to the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) Result Viewing Portal (IReV), a provision widely seen as a major safeguard for electoral transparency.
Tension escalated when Speaker Tajudeen Abbas put the motion to a voice vote. Although the “nays” appeared louder than the “ayes,” the Speaker ruled that the “ayes” had carried the vote, a declaration that immediately sparked outrage among opposition members.
Lawmakers rose in protest, shouting and accusing the presiding officer of misjudging the voice vote. The chamber quickly became rowdy, with heated exchanges across the aisle.
Amid the confusion, several opposition lawmakers began chanting “APC ole” — a Yoruba phrase loosely translated as “APC thieves”, before walking out of the chamber in protest, accusing the ruling party of attempting to undermine electoral reforms.
In an effort to restore order, Speaker Abbas called for the House to move into an executive session. However, the proposal was also resisted by some members. Despite the pushback, the Speaker proceeded to move the chamber into a closed-door session.
The controversy centres on the clause mandating electronic transmission of results.
When the House passed the amendment in December, it adopted a provision requiring presiding officers to electronically transmit results from each polling unit to the IReV portal in real time, after completing and signing the prescribed Form EC8A and obtaining countersignatures from candidates or their agents where available.
However, the Senate had earlier rejected the mandatory real-time transmission clause, drawing criticism from civil society organisations and electoral reform advocates.
In a twist on Tuesday, the upper chamber rescinded its earlier position and approved electronic transmission of results to IReV. The Senate, however, inserted a caveat allowing manual collation to serve as a fallback in cases of technological failure.
The divergence between both chambers has led to the constitution of a conference committee tasked with harmonising their respective versions of the bill. Aside from the transmission clause, other areas of disagreement remain unresolved.
