The House of Representatives descended into a rowdy session on Tuesday, February 17, 2026, as lawmakers clashed over critical amendments to the Electoral Act 2026. The tension, which stalled legislative business for over an hour, centered on a controversial move to align with the Senate’s recent rejection of “real-time” electronic transmission of election results.
The chaos erupted when a segment of lawmakers, primarily from the opposition and the “Obidient” caucus, protested a recommendation to change the wording of Clause 60 from “electronically transmit in real-time” to simply “transfer.” Proponents of the stricter language argued that removing “real-time” creates a loophole for manual manipulation of results between polling units and collation centers. The session became increasingly heated as members traded shouts and engaged in clusters of intense arguments, forcing Speaker Tajudeen Abbas to briefly suspend the plenary for an emergency executive session.
Outside the National Assembly, the legislative friction was mirrored by “Occupy the National Assembly” protesters, who gathered in Abuja to demand that lawmakers retain the 2022 promises of technological transparency. While the House of Representatives had previously passed a version of the bill supporting real-time uploads to the IReV portal, the Senate’s decision to allow manual transmission as a backup has created a deep rift between the two chambers.
In a bid to resolve the deadlock, a 12-member conference committee has been constituted to harmonize the conflicting versions of the bill. Senate President Godswill Akpabio and Speaker Abbas have emphasized the urgency of the task, aiming to present a unified document for President Bola Tinubu’s assent by the end of February. For the USAfrica community and the Nigerian electorate, this standoff highlights the high-stakes struggle for electoral integrity as the country begins the long countdown to the 2027 general elections.
