Electoral Act Amendments: Senate orders fresh review, sets up 48-hour ad hoc panel

The Senate on Thursday constituted an ad hoc panel to work with its Committee on Judiciary and Legal Matters to re-examine contentious provisions in the report on amendments to the Electoral Act 2022.

 

The Judiciary and Legal Matters Committee is chaired by Senator Adeniyi Adegbonmire, while the original report under review was prepared by the Senate Committee on Electoral Matters led by Senator Simon Lalong, reports The Nation.

 

Senate President Godswill Akpabio announced the decision after lawmakers emerged from a three-hour closed-door session where they undertook an extensive review of the Lalong committee’s report.

 

The report had initially been scheduled for debate on Wednesday, but deliberation was stepped down due to the absence of the committee chairman, Lalong, a former governor of Plateau State.

 

At the close of plenary on Wednesday, Akpabio informed senators that copies of the report would be circulated to enable them study it ahead of deliberations the following day.

 

However, proceedings took a different turn at the start of plenary on Thursday when the Senate President called for an executive session to allow members discuss the document privately.

 

Briefing senators after the closed session, Akpabio said the report would undergo further scrutiny to harmonise differing views and address grey areas identified during the deliberations.

 

He disclosed that the newly constituted ad hoc panel would sit for 48 hours and present its recommendations on the third legislative day for consideration at plenary.

 

Members of the panel, drawn from ranking senators, include Adamu Aliero, Aminu Tambuwal, Adams Oshiomhole, Danjuma Goje, Tony Nwoye, and Titus Zam. The Clerk to the S’nate, Emmanuel Odo, would serve as secretary to the panel.

 

Following the announcement, the Senate adjourned plenary till Tuesday next week to await the panel’s report.