The Senate has fixed an emergency plenary session for Tuesday, February 10.
This was disclosed in a notice issued on Sunday by the Clerk of the Senate, Emmanuel Odo, who stated that the sitting was convened on the instruction of the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio.
According to the notice, the emergency session will take place at exactly 12 noon inside the Senate Chamber.
The notice read in part that all distinguished senators are formally informed, on the directive of the Senate President, of the scheduled emergency sitting and are expected to attend.
The development comes amid increasing pressure on the National Assembly to reconsider Clause 60(3) of the Electoral Amendment Bill, which addresses the electronic transmission of election results.
Earlier in the week, the Senate resolved to retain the provision on electronic transfer of election results as contained in the Electoral Act 2022.
While deliberating on the bill, the upper legislative chamber rejected proposals calling for real-time transmission of election results and a 10-year ban on vote buying. Instead, lawmakers chose to maintain the existing penalties, which include fines or prison terms.
Some senators have since clarified that the bill received the support of the majority of members.
Despite the backing, the Senate declined to approve real-time electronic transmission, opting to preserve the current provision in the 2022 Electoral Act, which allows results to be transmitted “in a manner as prescribed by the commission.”
