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The Senate on Wednesday, shifted the consideration of the report on Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill to Thursday, January 29 but one of the major recommendations is electronic transmission of results from polling units to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC Result Viewing Portal, IREV after counting of votes.
Recommendation was also made for more stringent measures against buying and selling voters’ cards by any agent of political parties by increasing the penalty from N500, 000 to N5, 000,000 million.
The report of its Committee on Electoral Matters, chaired by Senator Simon Lalong (APC Plateau South), earlier scheduled to be presented and debated clause by clause on Wednesday, was stepped down.
The Senate Leader, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele (APC Ekiti Central), who suggested the postponement, however, said copies of the report should be circulated to all the Senators for scrutiny ahead of clause by clause consideration on Thursday.
Approving the suggestion, the Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio also informed the Senators that a brief closed door session would be held on the report before general consideration at the Committee of the Whole.
A copy of the report obtained by our correspondent, shows that on page 45, a new subsection (3) was introduced into the 2022 Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill 2025 to check manipulation of results and ballot box snatching.
The section pointedly states that “INEC shall electronically transmit election results from each polling unit to IREV portal in real time and such transmission shall be done simultaneously with physical collation of results.”
In the report, a new subsection 2 was also introduced to section 77 to make the offense of failure of Presiding Officers to sign and stamp ballot papers and results announced by them, punishable.
Section 47(2) and (3) were also amended by substituting the words “smart card reader” with the words “Bimodal Voter Accreditation System”
The Committee on Electoral Matters in the report, also amended section 54(1) to check abuse of electoral process by those who take advantage of visually impaired and incapacitated voters by barring any political party agent , candidate or official from accompanying such voters into voting compartment.
In his remarks, the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio appealed to all Senators to study copies of the report given to them ahead of final consideration on Thursday during plenary.
“Distinguished colleagues, as suggested by the Leader, please let’s look into the report very well ahead of final consideration tomorrow first from closed door session and at Committee of the Whole,” he said.
