Senate Urged to Ignore ‘Noisy Critics’ Ahead of Emergency Plenary on Electoral Act Amendment

Ahead of the emergency plenary scheduled for Tuesday, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Ayekooto Akindele, has called on the Senate to adopt a firm and nationalistic stance in amending the controversial sections of the Electoral Act.

In a statement shared on his Facebook page on Tuesday, Ayekooto urged the upper legislative chamber to disregard what he described as the “rants of noisy election losers” as they work on the legislation.

“Senators should vote transparently, decide where necessary, and conclude this patriotic assignment today, so that we can move on to other pressing national matters,” he said. “May God bless Godswill Akpabio and the Nigerian Senate.”

The call comes against the backdrop of ongoing public demands for mandatory electronic transmission of election results. On Monday, a cross-section of Nigerians, including the 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, converged at the National Assembly to insist that the phrase ‘real-time electronic transmission’ be explicitly included in the proposed amendment.

Although the Senate has clarified reports suggesting it rejected electronic transmission of results, protesters maintained that the law must clearly guarantee transparency through real-time electronic transmission.

The emergency plenary is expected to address these concerns and provide clarity on the contentious provisions of the Electoral Act.