Senate To Restore Electronic Transfer Of Results

Senate Committee on Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has restored the electronic transfer of results on Monday after being criticised.

Gatekeepers News reports the lawmakers made a u-turn during an emergency meeting in Abuja, the nation’s capital ahead of Tuesday’s presentation of the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill 2021.

Reports had emerged on Sunday that the federal legislators removed the electronic transmission of results from the 121-page draft bill as against what was earlier agreed to by the committees of the two chambers of the National Assembly.

Chairman of the Senate Committee on Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Senator Kabir Gaya had submitted the document to the upper chamber.

The report was greeted with criticisms as many opined that it was a plot to rig the 2023 general election ahead of time.

Gatekeepers News reports that about 22 Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) had raised the alarm over the alleged plan by the National Assembly to pass the bill without the inclusion of the electronic collation of results in the bill.

The CSOs, in a statement on Monday, said the manipulation of Section 50(2) would undermine INEC’s efforts to improve the election results management regime.

Gatekeepers News gathered that following the growing criticisms, the committee called the meeting to review the draft of the bill as some members of the committee claimed they were not part of the decision to remove the electronic transfer of votes.

The meeting which was presided over by Gaya had 12 committee members in attendance.

Section 50(2) of the bill had read: “Voting at an election under this bill shall be in accordance with the procedure determined by the Commission (INEC), which may include electronic voting provided that the commission shall not transmit results of the election by electronic means.”

It was however updated to read: Section 50(2) of the bill was reworked to read: “Voting at an election under this bill shall be in accordance with the procedure determined by the commission (INEC), which may include electronic voting provided that the commission may transmit results of elections by electronic means where and when practicable.”

“This is not funny at all. I now know why the presentation of the report had been delayed this long after we finished our work at the committee level. They have been playing hide-and-seek on the matter.

“For all I know and other committee members can bear me witness, the issue of ban on electronic transfer of votes was not part of the report we wrote. So, that means the committee chairman is culpable and owes the committee members an explanation over the strange insertion,” a member of the Senate Committee on INEC told THISDAYLIVE.

In his reaction to the allegation of plotting to rig the 2023 general election ahead of time, President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan said presiding officers did not alter the workings of committees of both chambers on the Electoral Act Amendment Bill 2021.

“Let me seize this opportunity to react to insinuations being made against the leadership of the National Assembly as regards the 2010 Electoral Act ( Amendment) Bill 2021, which will soon be considered and passed at both chambers.

“Leadership or presiding officers of the National Assembly are not the ones to determine what and what provisions should be in the report to be presented, making the series of phone calls being made to us unnecessary,” Lawan said during the inauguration of the National Commissioners of the Public Complaints Commission (PCC) in Abuja.