House of Reps Denies Claims of Stalling Electoral Act Amendment

Claims that the National Assembly is purposefully postponing the Electoral Act Amendment law have been rejected by the House of Representatives, which has stated that it is certain the law will be harmonised next week and that the apparent delay is procedural rather than political.

There is no intentional delay, according to Adebayo Balogun, the chairman of the House Committee on Electoral Matters, who stated that the measure is being worked on in both houses of the National Assembly.

“The bill is being considered by the Senate in session. Balogun, the representative for Lagos State’s Ibeju-Lekki Federal Constituency, told Punch, “I hope the harmonisation will be finished by next week.”

In preparation for the general elections in 2027, he continued, the law would be delivered to the President for assent when the House and Senate have finished harmonizing.

Senate Cannot Complete Bill Again
The Senate once again failed to complete work on the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill on Tuesday, retreating into a protracted closed-door session that ended without a clear outcome for the planned revisions, despite assurances of progress.

In a four-and-a-half-hour executive session, lawmakers discussed the Senate Committee on Electoral Matters’ report, which was led by Senator Simon Lalong, as well as suggestions from a seven-member ad hoc committee tasked with settling controversial provisions in the bill.

However, no information regarding the talks or choices was revealed when the plenary reconvened at approximately 5:35 p.m., putting the bill in limbo for the second consecutive sitting.

Senate Leader Senator Opeyemi Bamidele moved for the chamber to dissolve into a Committee of the Whole for clause-by-clause scrutiny of the measure, which triggered the start of the executive session.

Senators decided to discuss behind closed doors even though the report of the ad hoc committee, which was chaired by Senator Niyi Adegbonmire (Ondo Central), was on the Order Paper for presentation.

Godswill Akpabio, the Senate President, provided a hazy summary of the proceedings when they resumed.

“The Senate discussed issues pertaining to the Senate’s operations in particular and the country in general during the executive session,” Akpabio stated before requesting senators to verify that the statement accurately represented the session.

The issue was quickly resolved as lawmakers unanimously voted “aye.”

Shortly after, Bamidele moved to postpone plenary till Wednesday, although he did not specify when the bill would return for final passage or if it had reached third reading.

Anxiety Is Increased by the Slow Pace Before 2027 Polls
Concerns over Nigeria’s electoral framework’s preparedness for the general elections in 2027 have been raised by the frequent delays. The election Act Amendment Bill is considered essential for enhancing public trust, preventing election fraud, and bolstering electoral integrity.

Mandatory real-time electronic transmission of polling unit results, stricter penalties for electoral offenses like result manipulation and ballot-box snatching, substituting references to the “smart card reader” with the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, safeguarding vulnerable voters, including those with visual impairments, from interference, and making it illegal for presiding officers to refuse to sign and stamp electoral materials are some of the major proposals that are currently before the Senate.

Prominent opposition groups, such as the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Labour Party (LP), and African Democratic Congress (ADC), have criticized what they see as a lack of urgency in changing the Electoral Act.

They cautioned that more postponements might damage public trust in the election process and call into question the validity of the 2027 polls.

The public harshly criticized the bill’s sluggish progress in the final quarter of 2025. The bill was originally scheduled for discussion prior to the House’s Christmas break, but it was withdrawn because MPs were not given enough copies.

The National Assembly is purposefully ignoring the bill, according to Femi Falana, Senior Advocate of Nigeria, who said last week that MPs would rather keep things as they are.

“It is very clear from the conduct of both chambers of the National Assembly that the members simply want the status quo retained,” Falana stated on an Arise News program.

Nigerians are supposed to believe that the proposed Electoral Act is being handled because of this rigmarole.

Falana emphasized that lawmakers are focusing more on defections than on significant election change in an environment of “reckless impunity.”

The National Assembly’s leadership insists that delays are caused by legislative processes and the requirement for both houses’ agreement before a bill can be sent for presidential assent, despite growing criticism.