House of Representatives pass Electoral Act Amendment Bill - See wetin you need to know

Di Nigeria House of Representatives don pass di Electoral Amendment Bill afta opposition lawmakers waka comot from di National Assembly Chambers in disagreement.

Dis dey come afta di Senate also pass di long-awaited Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill, 2021 on Thursday for di floor of di house.

Di lower chamber by dis don step down di controversial section 52(3) of di bill wey deal wit di electronic transmission of election results.

Opposition lawmakers wey most of dem na from di Peoples Democratic Party waka comot from di session as dem insist say di clause still dey.

Di new amendment provide say Inec go fit consider electronic transmission so far as di national network coverage dey okay and secure by Nigeria Communication Commission (NCC) and approved by di National Assembly.

According to di lawmakers, dis na to ensure fairness and inclusiveness for di electorates, particularly pipo wey dey live for rural areas, an all-inclusive provision must be accommodated in the Electoral Act to protect their participation and votes during elections.

On Thursday, di Green Chamber bin fail to reach consensus over di much-debated clause afta di Deputy Speaker, Idris Wale bin rule against di electronic transmission of election results even though plenty lawmakers vote in favour of di move.

To solve di problem, di Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila bin invite di Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and di NCC on Friday to give further clarifications on di Electoral Act wit major focus on section 52(3).

Di NCC explain give House of Reps say dem no fit guarantee 100% per cent safety of results for di electronic transmission of results wit explanation say no system dey completely free from hackers.

NCC Executive Commissioner (Stakeholder Management), Adeleke Adewolu say elections results fit only dey transmitted by a 3G network, plus say na only 50 percent of di kontri 3G coverage.

Wetin dey cause issue for di electoral amendment bill?

Sake of di katakata wey dey always follow election for Nigeria, like cases of violence, ballot box snatching, bloodshed and oda electoral misbehaviour, di Nigeria Senate for 2019 begin fresh moves to address dis challenges as dem try chook eye for di Electoral Act again.

For 2019, one bill for an Act to ensure say di Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) adopt electronic voting method for future elections dey introduced and di Bill scale through second reading without any wahala.

With di amendment, e dey expected say INEC go operate an electronic database into which all results for election go dey transmitted.

Di Bill wey dey titled, "A Bill for an Act to Amend di Electoral Act No.6 2010 and for Other Related Matters, 2019(SB.122) dey sponsored by di Deputy President of di Senate, Ovie Omo-Agege, and Co-sponsored by Senator Abubakar Kyari, e dey reason di amendment of Section 65 of di Electoral Act 2010 by introducing a "National Electronic Register of Election Results.

Wetin e mean be say, di new amendment demands say data of accredited voters must dey transmitted to di central data base afta di conclusion of di accreditation of voters wey vote through di use of di card reader.

Di Bill also reason say, "At di end of accreditation of voters, di presiding officer go transmit di voter accreditation data by secure mobile electronic communication go di central database of di commission wey dem hide for di national headquarters of di commission."

As di lawmakers gada on Thursday to reason di Electoral Act Amendment Bill again, division bin start wen di Committee on INEC on Electoral Act Amendment Bill 2021 present dia recommendations.

Di Bill bin cause division among di lawmakers for both di lower and upper chamber as dem debate over di mode of transmission of results by di Independent National Electoral Commission on election day.

While some of dem argue say na di work of INEC, others debate say di power to determine how dem go take transmit election result electronically suppose dey di hand of di Nigeria Communications Commission wit di approval of di National Assembly.