The Pathfinder
Monday, February 9, 2026
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Amid mounting public outrage and threats of nationwide protests and election boycotts by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and other groups, the Senate has announced an emergency plenary session to revisit its recent passage of the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill.
The decision was disclosed on Sunday in a statement signed by the Clerk of the Senate, Emmanuel Odo, who said all senators have been directed to reconvene.
“The President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, has directed the reconvening of plenary for an emergency sitting on Tuesday, February 10, 2026,” the statement read.
According to the notice, the emergency session will commence at 12 noon.
The move follows widespread criticism of the Senate’s decision to reject a provision seeking to make the electronic transmission of election results mandatory. The NLC has accused the National Assembly of undermining public confidence in Nigeria’s electoral process by failing to clearly guarantee real-time electronic transmission of results.
Also reacting, a newly formed coalition of political activists under the banner of the Movement for Credible Elections strongly condemned the lawmakers’ action, describing it as a “deliberate act of democratic sabotage.”
As part of its response, the coalition announced plans for a mass protest tagged “Occupy NASS”, scheduled to hold in Abuja on Monday.
The controversy comes days after the Senate passed the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill on February 4 but voted down Clause 60(3), which sought to compel presiding officers to electronically transmit election results directly from polling units to the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) Result Viewing (IReV) portal in real time.
The rejected clause was designed to enhance transparency and curb manipulation in the collation process by ensuring immediate electronic upload of results after voting.
Instead, lawmakers retained the existing discretionary provision on the “transfer” of results, which allows electronic transmission only after votes have been counted and publicly announced at polling units.
The decision has drawn widespread condemnation from civil society organisations, election observers, and opposition figures, who described it as a major setback to electoral credibility and democratic reforms.
Meanwhile, the House of Representatives’ bipartisan Conference Committee on the Electoral Act Amendment Bill is expected to meet with its Senate counterpart this week to reconcile differences between the versions of the bill passed by both chambers.
A member of the committee and lawmaker representing Bida/Gbako/Katcha Federal Constituency of Niger State, Saidu Abdullahi, confirmed this in an interview with The PUNCH.
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