After three days of rowdy sessions, the Senate has passed the Electoral Act (Repeal and Re-enactment) Bill, 2026.
The law keeps electronic transmission of results but drops the rule that they must move in real time.
Tuesday’s vote ended a fight that began in a closed-door caucus on Monday and spilled onto the floor.
The deciding words are in the new Clause 60(3):
“(3) The Presiding Officer shall electronically transmit the results from each polling unit to the IREV portal after Form EC8A has been signed, stamped and, where possible, countersigned by candidates or agents.
If the network fails, the paper Form EC8A becomes the only evidence for collation and declaration.”
Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe (PDP, Abia South) forced a division under Order 72, calling the manual fallback a licence to rig.
The tally: 55 yes, 16 no. Three minority lawmakers—Olalere Oyewumi (PDP, Osun), Wadada Aliyu (SDP, Nasarawa) and Amos Yohanna (PDP, Adamawa)—joined the majority.
How the bill returned
On 10 February the Senate had already passed the bill, but concern that the 2027 poll would clash with Ramadan pushed Senator Michael Opeyemi Bamidele (APC, Ekiti Central) to move for recommital.
His motion asked the chamber to:
– Shift election day from 20 February to 13 February 2027
– Clean up 24 clauses—1(d), 10, 22, 23, 28, 29, 32, 42, 47, 51, 60, 62, 64, 65, 73, 77, 86, 87, 89, 93 and 143
– Keep e-transmission where it works, paper where it doesn’t
Using Order 52(6), the Senate dissolved into the Committee of the Whole, repealed every section of the 2022 Act and re-enacted them line by line.
