Why Senate leadership convened emergency session on Electoral Act, by Dickson
…urges Conference Committee to adopt House version on e-transmission Senator Seriake Dickson (PDP, Bayelsa West) has explained the circumstances that led the Senate leadership to convene an emergency plenary session
...urges Conference Committee to adopt House version on e-transmission
Senator Seriake Dickson (PDP, Bayelsa West) has explained the circumstances that led the Senate leadership to convene an emergency plenary session on the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill, urging the Conference Committee to adopt the House of Representatives version on electronic transmission of election results.
Addressing journalists at a press conference, Dickson said the controversy arose after the Senate altered a clause on electronic transmission that had earlier been agreed upon by the joint committees of both chambers and other stakeholders.
“The main issue I want to talk about is already out there in the public space. For almost two years, as a member of the Senate Committee on Electoral Matters, we worked extensively on amendments to the electoral laws. We held workshops, joint sessions with the House of Representatives, meetings with INEC, the technical committee, consultants, and other stakeholders, as well as public hearings in Abuja and Lagos.
“We all agreed – crucially with INEC – on a framework that would regulate the conduct of elections in this country moving forward. But we could not conclude the process before tragedy struck. The Deputy Governor of my state collapsed suddenly and died, throwing the entire state and my family into mourning.”
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Dickson said he returned to plenary for the first time after the burial because of the importance of the emergency session.
“Yesterday (Tuesday) was the first time I attended a Senate sitting since his burial. Despite my personal state, I attended the emergency session because of its importance,” he said.
He explained that the emergency session was convened following public reaction to the Senate’s earlier decision to amend the clause on electronic transmission.
“While I was still in Bayelsa, I was shocked to learn that the House of Representatives, which received the same document, passed it without any alteration. But the Senate delayed and later removed a very crucial clause that had been unanimously agreed upon at the joint committee level, replacing it with a weaker provision from the previous law,” he said.
“That development shocked me, though I was not surprised when civil society organisations raised alarm and Nigerians expressed outrage. This was why the Senate leadership convened the emergency session.”
He said the clause was restored during the emergency sitting but with a proviso that had generated concern.
“The clause was brought back, but with a proviso stating that where electronic transmission fails, manual results would serve as the primary evidence. That proviso is what many Nigerians are rightly concerned about,” he said.
The House of Representatives version of the amended Clause 60(3) of the Electoral Act provides that: “The presiding officer shall electronically transmit the results from each polling unit to the IREV portal in real time, and such transmission shall be done after the prescribed Form EC8A has been signed and stamped by the presiding officer and/or countersigned by the candidates or polling unit agents, where available at the polling unit.”
