President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Wednesday signed into law the controversial Electoral Act, 2022 (Repeal and Re-Enactment) Bill 2026.
The development follows the passage of the bill by the National Assembly on Tuesday after months of intense deliberations, public scrutiny, and political debates across the country.
There have also been protests in Abuja against the passage of the controversial bill, with security operatives firing tear gas at peaceful protesters seeking electoral reforms.
Senate on Tuesday passed the Electoral Act, 2022 (Repeal and Re-Enactment) Bill 2026, following hours of tense deliberations, procedural disputes, and a heated row over Clause 60, which deals with the electronic transmission of election results.
Proceedings took a dramatic turn when Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe (ADC, Abia South) demanded a division on Clause 60, triggering a rowdy session in the upper chamber.
However, the demand immediately split the chamber and exposed deep divisions among lawmakers over the future of electronic voting processes in Nigeria.
Channels Television reports that Senate President Godswill Akpabio said he was under the impression that the demand for a division on the clause had earlier been withdrawn.
His position, however, was fiercely contested by opposition senators, who insisted that the issue was still alive and must be subjected to a formal vote.
Deputy Senate President Barau Jibrin intervened, citing Order 52(6) of the Senate Standing Orders, and argued that it would be procedurally out of order to revisit any provision already ruled upon by the Senate President.
His submission only fueled further uproar, during which Senator Sunday Karimi was seen briefly confronting Abaribe on the Senate floor.
Amid the chaos, Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele reminded lawmakers that he had earlier sponsored the motion for rescission of the bill’s passage, stressing that all prior decisions of the Senate on the matter had been nullified.
According to him, Senator Abaribe’s demand for a division was therefore consistent with the motion already adopted by the chamber.
Akpabio, in his remarks, suggested that Abaribe’s insistence on a division was aimed at publicly demonstrating his position on electronic transmission of results to Nigerians.
He nevertheless sustained the point of order, after which Abaribe rose in protest and was urged to formally move his motion.
Rising under Order 72(1), Abaribe specifically called for a division on Clause 60(3), objecting to the provision that allows Form EC8A to be relied upon where electronic transmission of results fails.
He proposed the outright removal of the clause permitting manual transmission of results in the event of network failure, arguing that such a loophole could undermine electoral transparency.
During the division, Akpabio directed senators who supported the proviso to stand, followed by those opposed to it.
Fifteen opposition senators rose against the clause, while 55 senators, mainly of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), voted in favour, effectively retaining the controversial provision.
Many Nigerians described the development as a dark day for electoral transparency in the nation’s history even as Akpabio saw it from the opposite picture.
