AKPABIO DISMISSES CRITICISMS OF ELECTORAL ACT AMENDMENT, SAYS SENATE PROCESS NOT YET CONCLUDED

Senate President Godswill Akpabio has dismissed criticisms trailing the Senate’s amendment of the Electoral Act, insisting that commentators and some civil society actors are misjudging the legislature based on an incomplete legislative process and a poor understanding of parliamentary procedures.

Akpabio spoke in Abuja while delivering remarks as Special Guest of Honour at the unveiling of a book titled “The Burden of Legislators in Nigeria,” authored by Senator Effiong Bob.

Addressing the controversy surrounding the removal of the phrase “real-time” electronic transmission of election results, the Senate President said the Senate had not concluded work on the amendment bill, describing public debate on the issue as premature.

According to him, the amendment process remains ongoing until the Votes and Proceedings stage is completed.

“The Electoral Act amendment is incomplete. We have not completed it, but they are already on television. They don’t understand lawmaking.

“They don’t even know that what is in the Senate is not completed until we look at the Votes and Proceedings,” Akpabio said.

He explained that the Votes and Proceedings stage allows senators to correct, amend or clarify resolutions taken on the floor before final approval, stressing that only at that point could the Senate’s decision be regarded as final.

“When we bring out the Votes and Proceedings, any senator has a right to rise and say, ‘On clause three, this was what we agreed upon.’ That is the only time you can talk about what the Senate has done or not done,” he stated.

Akpabio criticised what he described as persistent “abuse” of the legislature, accusing some commentators and civil society actors of attempting to impose their views on lawmakers.

“People have become mouth legislators. Go and contest election if you want to talk about lawmaking and go and join them and make the law. Retreats are not lawmaking; retreats are part of consultations. So why do you think that the paper you agreed in Lagos during a retreat must be what is agreed on the floor?” he asked.

The Senate President maintained that the Senate did not remove electronic transmission of election results, clarifying that lawmakers only questioned the insistence on real-time transmission.

“I must state clearly, without ambiguity, that the Senate has not removed any means of transmission. If you want to use a bicycle to carry your votes from one polling unit to the ward centre, do so. If you want to use your phone to transmit, do so. If you want to use your iPad, do so,” he said.

He explained that the concern was that mandating real-time transmission could expose elections to legal challenges in the event of network failures.

“All we said was that we should remove the word ‘real time,’ because if you say real time and there is grid failure and the network is not working, when you go to court somebody will say it ought to have been real time,” Akpabio said.

According to him, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) should be allowed to determine the mode and timing of result transmission within the framework of the law.

He warned that insisting on real-time transmission could invalidate election results in areas affected by poor network coverage or insecurity.

“Real time means that in over nine states where networks are not working because of insecurity, there will be no election results. Nationally, if the national grid collapses and no network is working, no election results will be valid,” he said.

Akpabio also cited a Supreme Court ruling which, he noted, recognised Nigeria’s infrastructural challenges and affirmed that electronic transmission of results is supplementary to the statutory collation process.

“The result is in Form EC8A. It will be carried from the polling unit to the ward centre, from there to the local government collation centre, to the senatorial collation centre, to the state collation centre, and finally the national collation centre,” he explained.

The Senate President further noted that the amendment bill had not completed the bicameral legislative process, adding that a conference committee would reconcile differences between the Senate and House of Representatives versions before final passage.

“It is only when we have finished that that you will now say the National Assembly has passed any amendment to the Electoral Act,” he said.

He urged critics to allow the legislative process to run its full course, warning against attempts to discredit the process prematurely.

Akpabio stressed that electoral reforms must align with Nigeria’s legal and institutional capacity, cautioning against imposing technology beyond available infrastructure.

“We insist that electoral reforms must be anchored in law, guided by capacity, secured against abuse and applied uniformly across the nation. Technology must serve democracy; it must not endanger democracy,” he said.

“You stay in a place that has no wire, no light, and you want to put in the law ‘real time.’ Progress must not bring about injustice,” he added.

The Senate President warned that persistent mistrust of institutions, without understanding legislative procedures, could undermine democracy.

“When people do not understand their legislature, democracy is at risk. Democracy is measured not by passion alone, but by principles,” he said.

He recalled that the existing Electoral Act enabled competitive elections in 2023, including losses recorded by the then ruling party in several states.

“This same Electoral Act made the incumbent party almost lose millions of votes. We lost in places like Lagos and Kano. New parties won whole regions with the same act, whether real-time electronic transfer or not,” he said.

Akpabio concluded that laws must be enacted for posterity rather than partisan advantage.

“You don’t make law for an individual or for opposition. You make law to outlast you, for generations unborn,” he said.

Earlier, in his opening remarks, the National Chairman of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and former Senate President, Senator David Mark, who served as Chairman of the occasion, urged the National Assembly to pass the amendment bill without speaking on behalf of INEC.

“What the ADC is saying is, pass the law. Let INEC decide whether they can do it or not. Don’t speak for INEC.

“The stand of ADC is clear; pass the bill and let INEC decide on what it will do with it,” Mark said.

Several speakers at the event, including Akwa Ibom State Governor, Pastor Umo Eno, and the book reviewer, Professor Maxwell Gidado, SAN, commended Senator Bob for his courage in writing the book, noting that it shed light on the challenges faced by Nigerian legislators.

In his remarks, the author, Senator Effiong Bob, identified some of the challenges confronting legislators, including electoral battles, conflicts with governors and political godfathers, judicial annulment of election victories, addressing the private concerns of constituents, and self-inflicted challenges.

“The courage to defend democracy is in the legislature and the legislators,” he said.