Opposition lawmakers in the House of Representatives, on Tuesday, condemned moves to amend Clause 60 of the Electoral Act Amendment Bill.
The controversial clause, earlier passed by the House, provides for real-time transmission of election results from polling units to a central viewing centre of the Independent National Electoral Commission.
Pressure mounted on the House earlier in the week, forcing the Committee on Electoral Matters to propose that the bill be rescinded.
With opposition lawmakers insisting on retaining the earlier version, Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu sided with legislators of the ruling party, who maintained that the House should adopt the Senate version.
Consequently, shouts of “ole” rent the air as opposition lawmakers chanted, “APC – ole! APC – ole!”
Recall that the National Assembly has set up conference committees in the Senate and the House of Representatives to reconcile the two versions of the bill.
While the House approved real-time electronic transmission of election results in its amended Act, the Senate okayed the amendment with a caveat that, where real-time transmission fails, manual transmission would suffice.
Dirisu, has over 12 years experience covering political parties, National Assembly, sports, transportation, etc, and currently works with The PUNCH
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