The Senate on Thursday postponed the passage of the Electoral Act Repeal and Enactment Bill 2026, scheduling further consideration for Tuesday, February 4.
The decision followed a three-hour executive session where senators reviewed the details of the proposed legislation. Senate President Godswill Akpabio announced the formation of a small committee, led by Senator Niyi Adegonmire (APC, Ondo-Central), to consolidate the views expressed by senators during the closed-door meeting. The committee is expected to present a report to the plenary next week before the bill undergoes clause-by-clause consideration.
Originally slated for January 28, the bill was first shifted to January 29 to allow senators sufficient time to study its provisions.
The House of Representatives had previously passed the bill in December 2025. Key provisions include mandatory electronic transmission of results from polling units to the INEC Result Viewing Portal (iREV) in real time, penalties for presiding officers who fail to sign or stamp results, replacement of “smart card reader” with “Bimodal Voter Accreditation System” in Section 47, and increased fines for vote buying from N500,000 to N5 million.
Once the Senate completes its review, both chambers are expected to reconcile any differences through a joint conference committee before sending the bill to President Bola Tinubu for assent.
About the Author
