Senate's Electoral Reform Bill Criticized for Errors

Mondai Ubani, the chairman of the Nigeria Bar Association's electoral reform committee, expressed concerns regarding the Senate's proposal for an electoral reform amendment bill. He stated that the bill leaves room for electoral errors, particularly in the context of electronic transmission of results.

Ubani highlighted that the current system involves manual collation of results, which could lead to discrepancies between results declared at polling units and those collated at central locations. He emphasized that the Senate's version of the bill could allow for failures in the electoral process, potentially enabling manipulation.

Ubani noted that the harmonization committee would review the different versions of the bill, as the Senate had previously passed its own version, which differs from the House of Representatives' proposal. The committee is set to convene on Monday to align the positions before the bill is presented for presidential assent.

The 2022 Act assigned the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) the responsibility of issuing guidelines for the mode of result transmission, which has been a contentious issue.