Public Outrage Forces Senate to Convene Emergency Plenary

Amid rising public anger over recent changes to the Electoral Act, the Senate has fixed Tuesday for an emergency plenary session to address the controversy surrounding the amendment process.

The decision follows widespread criticism of the lawmakers’ move to drop a clause that would have made the electronic transmission of election results compulsory. The development was confirmed on Sunday in a notice issued by the Clerk of the Senate, Emmanuel Odo, instructing all senators to return for the special sitting.

According to the notice, Senate President Godswill Akpabio approved the emergency session, which is scheduled to commence at noon on Tuesday, February 10, 2026.

Public pressure has continued to mount since the passage of the bill, with the Nigeria Labour Congress warning of possible nationwide protests and election boycotts. The labour union accused the Senate of creating uncertainty by taking conflicting positions on the issue of electronic result transmission.

The NLC further argued that the lack of clarity could weaken public confidence in Nigeria’s electoral system.

Meanwhile, a newly established group of political activists, operating under the name Movement for Credible Elections, also criticised the National Assembly’s action, describing the removal of the mandatory electronic transmission provision from the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill 2026 as a calculated attempt to undermine democratic processes.

As part of its response, the coalition announced plans for a mass protest tagged “Occupy NASS”, scheduled for Monday (today) in Abuja.

This is happening a few days after the Senate passed the amendment bill on February 4 but voted down Clause 60(3), which sought to make it mandatory for presiding officers to electronically transmit election results directly from polling units to the Independent National Electoral Commission’s Result Viewing portal in real time.

The clause was designed to strengthen transparency and reduce manipulation in the collation process by ensuring immediate electronic upload of results.

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 sparked widespread condemnation from civil society organisations, election observers and opposition figures, who described it as a major setback to electoral credibility and democratic reforms.