Opposition members of the House of Representatives on Tuesday staged a walkout during a plenary presided over by the Deputy Speaker, Benjamin Kalu, in protest against certain proposed amendments to the Electoral Act.
The lawmakers accused the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the House of attempting to undermine credible, free and fair elections by diluting provisions on electronic transmission of results.
The emergency session was convened to amend certain sections of the Electoral Act earlier passed by the House in December last year.
At the centre of the controversy were Clauses 36 and 60 of the amendment bill. Clause 60 permits the use of Form EC8A for transmission of results where there is a hitch in electronic transmission, a provision the opposition strongly rejected, insisting on total electronic transmission without exceptions.
Briefing journalists after the walkout, Minority Leader Kingsley Chinda, flanked by other opposition lawmakers, said they were compelled to register their dissatisfaction with what transpired on the floor.
Chinda maintained that Section 60, which deals with electronic transmission of results, must provide exclusively for electronic transfer to prevent manipulation.
He argued that in the event of any conflict between manually collated results using Form EC8A and electronically transmitted results, the electronically transmitted version should prevail.
He alleged that their proposals were rejected by APC members, stressing that the opposition would not support any amendment that creates room for electoral malpractice.
On Section 84 relating to primary elections, the Minority Leader said political parties should be allowed to determine their preferred mode of selecting candidates, whether direct or indirect primaries, without being compelled by law.
However, the House spokesman, Akin Rotimi, described the session as historic in Nigeria’s democratic and parliamentary practice.
Rotimi explained that both chambers of the National Assembly met on February 17, 2026, to deliberate on the Electoral Act amendment, necessitating the emergency sitting.
He said a joint conference committee of the Senate and the House had earlier considered areas of disagreement but could only deliberate on provisions already contained in the versions passed by both chambers.
According to him, the extraordinary session became necessary to address new considerations arising from recent guidelines issued by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Rotimi noted that consultations by leadership and the conference committee informed the provisions adopted during plenary, adding that the process strictly followed the House Standing Orders.
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