The House of Representatives was thrown into a rowdy session on Tuesday during a resumed plenary presided over by Speaker Dr Tajudeen Abbas.
The sparsely attended session saw the Speaker read the only item on the day’s Order Paper: “Rescission of the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill, 2025,” following a motion moved by the Chairman, House Committee on Rules and Business, Mr Francis Waive.
The motion was supported by the Chairman, House Committee on Electoral Matters, Adebayo Balogun.
Speaking on the motion, Waive said, “The House is aware that a Technical Committee comprising the leadership of both chambers, members of the Conference Committee, the Clerks of the Senate and the House of Representatives, and legal drafting experts from the Directorate of Legal Services of the National Assembly met to harmonise and address the identified anomalies.
“We recognise the imperative of ensuring electoral timelines and statutory provisions, promoting maximum participation, fairness, inclusivity, administrative efficiency, and public confidence in the electoral system.
“Desirous of correcting the identified inconsistencies and unintended consequences through appropriate legislative action in order to safeguard the integrity of the electoral framework, the House resolved to rescind the decision on the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill, 2025, and recommit the same to the Committee of the Whole for consideration.”
When Speaker Abbas called the vote on the motion, the majority of lawmakers voted nay, but the Speaker pressed ahead with counting the few voices (ayes) in favour.
This sparked agitation, particularly from minority caucus members who were in the majority.
Jigawa lawmaker Abubakar Yalleman was seen pointing a finger at his Osun State counterpart, Bamidele Salam, though this reporter could not confirm the details of the exchange.
As the session grew rowdier, the House went into a closed-door executive session. At the time of filing this report, lawmakers had not yet resumed.
Meanwhile, a lawmaker, speaking to PUNCH in confidence, alleged attempts to alter the version of the bill already passed by the House, vowing that any such changes will not stand.
“They have doctored the Electoral Act, but whatever they brought here will not be considered. Members are angry,” the lawmaker said.
Recall that the National Assembly set up conference committees in the Senate and House to reconcile the two versions of the bill.
While the House approved real-time electronic transmission of election results in its amended Act, the Senate okayed the amendment with a caveat that manual transmission would suffice where real-time transmission fails.
Credit: punchng.com
