The senate has fixed an emergency plenary sitting for Tuesday, February 10, amid sustained debate over the electronic transmission of election results.
The decision was communicated in a notice issued on Sunday by the Clerk of the Senate, Emmanuel Odo, who said the sitting was convened on the directive of the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio.
According to the notice, the emergency session is scheduled to hold at 12 noon in the Senate chamber.
“I am directed by His Excellency, the President of the Senate, Distinguished Senator Godswill Obot Akpabio, GCON, to inform all Distinguished Senators of the Federal Republic of Nigeria that an Emergency Sitting of the Senate has been scheduled…” the notice read.
“All distinguished senators are kindly requested to note this emergency sitting date and attend.”
The emergency sitting comes amid mounting pressure on the National Assembly to revisit Clause 60(3) of the Electoral Amendment Bill, which addresses the electronic transmission of election results.
Last Wednesday, the Senate retained the provision on the electronic transfer of election results as contained in the Electoral Act 2022.
During deliberations on the bill, the upper chamber also rejected proposals for real-time transmission of results and a 10-year ban on vote buying, opting instead to maintain the existing sanctions of fines or jail terms.
However, some senators have since clarified that the bill received the support of the majority of lawmakers in the chamber.
Despite that broad backing, the Senate declined to adopt the real-time transmission framework advocated by some stakeholders, choosing instead to retain the existing wording in the 2022 Electoral Act, which provides that results be transferred “in a manner as prescribed by the commission”.