• Okays direct primaries for political parties

The Senate on Tuesday bowed to public pressure as it adopted electronic transfer of election results by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Also at plenary, the Red Chamber okayed
direct conduct of primaries by registered political parties in the country.

The Senate, at the Committee of the Whole chaired by Dr Ahmad Lawan, amended Clause 52(2) of the Electoral Act Amendment Bill to read: “Subject to section 63 of this Bill, voting at an election and transmission of results under this Bill shall be in accordance with the procedure determined by the Independent National Electoral Commission, which may include electronic voting.”

Clause 87(1) of the Electoral Amendment Bill, which was also passed as recommended states: “A political party seeking to nominate candidates for elections under this Bill shall hold direct primaries for aspirants to all elective positions, which shall be monitored by the Independent National Electoral Commission.”

The Senate had, in July during consideration of report on 2010 Electoral Act ( Amendment ) Bill 2021, submitted by its Commitee on INEC, amended clause 52(3) as recommended.

While the clause as presented by the committee in the report says INEC can transmit election results electronically, where and when practicable, the Senate passed the amended version which says: “INEC can transmit election results electronically subject to confirmation of Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) of adequacy and security of national network.

Details later…