The Senate Minority Caucus clarified on Thursday that the Senate did not reject the electronic transmission of election results before passing the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill, contrary to widespread media reports.
The clarification comes barely 24 hours after the upper chamber came under fire on Wednesday following reports that lawmakers had rejected proposals for the electronic transmission of results and a 10-year ban on vote buyers and other electoral offenders.
Shortly after the reports went viral, Senate President Godswill Akpabio dismissed the claims as misleading. He also maintained that legislators retained electronic transfer as provided under the 2022 Electoral Act, a distinction he said was necessary to avoid legal and operational ambiguities.
Speaking to journalists on Thursday, former Senate Minority Leader Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, said the caucus was compelled to address what he described as a widespread misunderstanding of Wednesday’s plenary proceedings.
“Since yesterday, the media has been awash with reports suggesting that the Senate rejected the electronic transmission of election results. That is not correct,” Abaribe said.
“To put the record straight, the Senate did not — I repeat, did not — reject electronic transmission of results as provided for in the 2022 Electoral Act.”
He explained that what the Senate passed was the electronic transmission of results, a position which, according to him, was also clarified by the Senate President during plenary.
