Members of the Joint National Assembly Conference Committee constituted to reconcile differences in the Electoral Amendment Bill passed separately by the Senate and the House of Representatives are expected to meet on Monday as lawmakers move to transmit a harmonised version to President Bola Tinubu for assent.
Findings by journalists on Thursday showed that the joint panel, made up of members from both chambers, has been given a one-week window to resolve contentious provisions in the bill — notably those dealing with the electronic transmission of election results.
The decision to harmonize the bill follows the passage of different versions by the Senate and the House, particularly on the role of technology in result collation and transmission. Under legislative procedure, where both chambers pass varying texts of the same bill, a conference committee is set up to produce a single version acceptable to both sides before transmission to the President.
The current amendment process is coming on the heels of the controversies that trailed the 2023 general election, especially the failure of the Independent National Electoral Commission to upload presidential election results to its Result Viewing Portal in real time.
Civil society groups, opposition parties and several lawmakers have since pressed for clearer statutory backing for the electronic transmission of results to prevent ambiguity and strengthen electoral transparency ahead of 2027.
Although many lawmakers have remained silent on the likely outcome of the harmonisation process, some admitted privately that they were keenly awaiting the meeting to know the committee’s final position on the disputed clauses.
A National Assembly source confirmed that the harmonization exercise will begin on Monday.
