Nigeria’s House of Representatives has passed the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill, maintaining the controversial Clause 52(2) as presented.
That clause gives the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) the option to determine when, where and how voting and transmission of results will be done.
Clause 52(2) reads, “Voting at an election and transmission of result under this bill shall be in accordance with the procedure determined by the commission.”
There was a rowdy session earlier in the House as the Deputy Speaker, Ahmed Wase, skipped Section 52 where consideration of the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill was suspended on Thursday.
After asking officials of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) a series of questions, the Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila, said the information from the agency would guide the lawmakers on the controversial Clause 52(2) which is about voting and transmission of election results.
The House reverted to Committee of the Whole, which was presided over by Wase, to continue with the consideration and Wase, decided to call for a vote from Clause 54, which generated protests.
Deputy Minority Leader, Toby Okechukwu, raised a point of order to recall that the session on Thursday was halted when the consideration got to Clause 52. He also recalled that several members called for division of the House, which Wase overruled.
The Deputy Speaker, however, denied blocking division of the House, but said that Clause 52 had already been voted on and passed.
Remember that Wase had ruled that the nays had it even when the ayes were louder than the nays, a development that ended normalcy in the chamber.