ENUGU, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA)- A member of the House of Representatives, Akin Rotimi, has defended the Senate’s recent amendment of the Electoral Act, saying the decision was taken in the best interest of Nigerians and in line with constitutional procedure.
Rotimi, who represents Ekiti North I Federal Constituency, made the remarks on Wednesday during an appearance on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief, amid growing debate over changes to provisions on electronic transmission of election results.
According to him, the process that led to the amendment followed established parliamentary procedures, including committee review, stakeholder engagement, and plenary deliberation.
“The Senate has acted in the best interest of Nigerians. It is part of the legislative process,” he said.
He explained that civil society feedback and technical reviews were first addressed at the committee stage before lawmakers returned to plenary to debate the recommendations.
“All the review, amendment, and feedback from civil society that resulted in the recommendation happened at the committee level. That is part of the parliamentary process,” Rotimi stated.
He added that open debate at plenary allows lawmakers to scrutinise provisions and express reservations where necessary.
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“For them to come back to plenary and say this is what we have worked on it is part of the process as well for everyone to vent and say we like this provision or have reservations about this provision. That is part of the process which the Senate is constitutionally mandated to carry out,” he said.
Rotimi dismissed claims that the amendment process was irregular, insisting that the Senate acted strictly within its standing rules.
“It is not an issue for the Senate, as part of the parliamentary process, to say let’s take a closer look. There is nothing that has been done outside of our standing rules and parliamentary procedure,” he said.
He maintained that the outcome of Tuesday’s proceedings reflected both legislative consensus and public expectations for credible elections.
“What the Senate is demanding is also a reflection of what Nigerians want, which is free, fair, and credible elections. That is why you saw the outcome of the process yesterday showed that the Senate shifted grounds,” he added.
The amendment followed the Senate’s decision to rescind its earlier rejection of compulsory electronic transmission of results from polling units to the Independent National Electoral Commission’s Result Viewing Portal (IREV).
Under the revised provision, electronic transmission was approved but without the phrase “real time.” The amendment also retains Form EC8A as the primary instrument for result collation where internet connectivity fails.
In cases of technical challenges, the law allows for manual transmission of results using the duly signed and stamped Form EC8A.
The fallback clause has drawn criticism from some lawmakers and observers who fear it could weaken the integrity of the transmission process in disputed elections.