Joint National Assembly Committee to Harmonise Electoral Amendment Bill Before Transmission to President Tinubu

The Joint National Assembly Conference Committee is set to meet on Monday to harmonise the Electoral Amendment Bill, which was passed separately by the Senate and the House of Representatives, before sending it to President Bola Tinubu for assent.

The committee, comprising members from both chambers, has a one-week window to resolve disagreements in the bill, particularly regarding the electronic transmission of election results.

The need for harmonisation arose after the Senate and House passed different versions, mainly on how technology should be used to collate and transmit results. Under legislative rules, when both chambers pass differing texts, a conference committee must produce a single version acceptable to both before it is sent to the President.

This amendment comes in the wake of controversies from the 2023 general election, where the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) failed to upload presidential election results to its Result Viewing Portal in real time, sparking public debates about transparency and technology in elections.