The Senate has set up a seven-member Conference Committee to harmonize positions with its counterpart in the Lower Chambers on the Electoral Act Amendments Bill.
President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan who made this known during plenary on Wednesday, said the head of the Committee, Senate Leader, Abdullahi Yahaya, will lead the committee members to meet with the House of Representatives team, to work on the contentious aspects of the Electoral Act (amendment) Bill.
Other members of the 7-member committee are, Kabiru Gaya (North-West), Ajibola Basiru (South-West), Danjuma Goje (North-East), Uche Ekwunife (South-East), Sani Musa (North-Central), and Mathew Urhoghide (South-South).
A close observation of the committee members revealed that only one of them (Urhoghide) voted in support of the electronic transmission of results when there was a division on the issue.
Ekwunife was not available to cast her vote while the others voted against the electronic transmission of results until the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) got approval from the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) and the National Assembly.
The lawmakers had considered the Report of the Electoral Bill, 2021 which is a Bill for an Act to repeal the Electoral Act No.6, 2010 and enact the Electoral Act 2021, to regulate the conduct of Federal, State and Area Councils in the Federal Capital Territory elections.
Provisions of clause 52(3) of the Electoral Act ( Amendment ) Bill 2021 sharply divided the Senators across party lines during consideration of the entire report.
The Senators then considered the report that has 158 clauses, just as the Senate conceded the powers of the INEC to the NCC, to determine electronic tranfer of election results
