The House of Representatives in Nigeria was thrown into chaos on Tuesday as lawmakers opposed a motion to rescind the passage of the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill, 2025.
The bill, passed on December 23, 2025, aims to reform the country’s electoral laws.
The motion, presented by Francis Waive, Chairperson of the Committee on Rules and Business, sought to revisit the legislation to reflect emerging electoral reforms.
Lawmakers argued that the bill needed to be revisited to ensure it promotes “maximum participation, fairness, inclusivity, administrative efficiency and public confidence in the electoral system”. However, the majority of lawmakers voted against the motion, leading to protests and a rowdy session.
The controversy surrounds Clause 60(3) of the bill, which governs the transmission of election results.
The House of Representatives had passed a version mandating real-time electronic transmission, while the Senate approved electronic transmission with a fallback to manual collation where transmission fails.
The disagreement has sparked concerns about the country’s electoral transparency and credibility, with civil society groups and opposition parties pushing for mandatory real-time electronic transmission.
