With nearly 50 per cent or 362 days out of its legislative calendar gone, the National Assembly must be racing against time to deliver on crucial bills that are germane to democratic governance.
Specifically, the Senate would begin the review of the Electoral Act 2022 by looking into the bills for the consolidation of all elections in one day and the disenfranchisement of citizens on special duties, while the House of Representatives would revisit the electronic transfer of results.
Going by section 63 of the Constitution, the National Assembly is expected to sit for 181 days in each legislative year, which translates to 724 days for the four years of the current plenary.
But findings by The Guardian revealed that while the bicameral federal legislature has barely 34 days remaining to cross the middle threshold of its legislative lifespan, it has a lot of critical legislation still unattended.
Consequently, as the 10th National Assembly resumes plenary after weeks of recess, both chambers will have to discharge the burden of heightened public expectations of responsible performance and serious attention to the time-bound critical bills.
Records show that the present Electoral Act mandates the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to issue and publish a notice for the 2027 general elections a year ahead, meaning that if the elections were to be held in February 2027, that publication should not exceed February 2026.
But, barely 10 months to that deadline, the National Assembly is still far behind in the legislative processes, mainly because the key issues slated for amendment so far are still at an elementary stage.
The National Assembly is under pressure to accelerate efforts in amending the 2022 electoral act, an exercise, which observers of Nigeria’s electoral system believe ought to have been concluded.
The Senators and House of Representatives members, who commenced their latest recess on March 27, were billed to return to legislative business on April 29 but extended the recess by one week to observe May Day with their constituents.
Recall that before the break, both the upper and lower legislative chambers were roiled by the proclamation of a State of Emergency in Rivers State by the President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, which suspended the elected governor and members of the state House of Assembly.
In the suspense and outcry that trailed the controversial “State of Emergency” in Rivers State, Nigerians looked up to the National Assembly for constitutional leadership.
Instead, what they got was silence, followed by swift ratification through a voice vote, which elicited rebukes from stakeholders and critics who accused the lawmakers of subverting Section 305(6)(b) of the Constitution requirement of a two-thirds majority.
Allegations that Senators were paid to back this declaration—some reportedly received $10,000 and others $5,000—have only deepened public distrust, which prompted the sudden recourse to extended recess.
While the committees on electoral matters seem caught up in foot-dragging, the crucial bills, especially the one marshalling the need to avert the rising cost of elections by scheduling all elections to be conducted on the same day, have not been debated.
The bill, which was sponsored by Senator Saliu Mustapha (APC, Kwara State), aims to amend the Electoral Act 2022 to reduce the cost of elections, improve efficiency, and enhance political participation. It has been accepted and sent to the electoral affairs committee.
In an interview, Senator Mustapha explained the urgent need to amend the Electoral Act 2022, noting that despite some improvements contained in the Act, it has left significant gaps in Nigeria’s electoral system.
According to the Senator, the rising cost of elections, which spiked from N1.5 billion in 1999 to N350 billion in 2023, is not only unsustainable but also undermines the democratic process.
He stated that the bill proposes same-day elections to eliminate the financial burden caused by prolonged campaign periods and staggered elections, adding that the bill also seeks to shorten campaign durations to ease financial demands on both political parties and candidates.
Also, pending before the Senate is a bill to amend the Electoral Act 2022, sponsored by the Senator representing Katsina Central, Abdul Azeez Musa Yar’Adua, to address the “disenfranchisement” of eligible voters, who, by the nature of their jobs, are constrained from participating in the civic exercise of casting their ballots during general elections.
Yar’Adua listed those affected as INEC officials, including ad-hoc staff, security personnel, journalists, and election observers, among others, who work on election day to uphold the integrity of the process.
Stressing that these categories of voters are denied their right to vote after being deployed to polling units far from where they registered, the Katsina-born Senator noted that their population can significantly affect the outcome of elections.
According to him, they include, over one million ad-hoc staff, 310,973 police personnel, 93,495 military, and Department of State Service (DSS) personnel, 51,000 personnel from the National Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC), 21,000 from the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), 11,336 from the Nigeria Correctional Service, 9,447 from the National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).
While remarking that 350 personnel from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), who were actively engaged in election activities, were disenfranchised in the last election, Yar’Adua reiterated that the number of people excluded from voting is significant enough to be accommodated.
In the House of Representatives, Speaker Tajudeen Abass would lead the members to review the legislative agenda, which includes initiatives related to electoral and constitutional reforms.
These reforms, the Speaker said, are aimed at strengthening local government autonomy, including measures to enhance the independence of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the State Independent National Electoral Commissions (SIECs).
According to the goal, the House had in February this year passed for second reading a bill to amend the 2022 Electoral Act by making electronic transmission of results mandatory.
The bill, sponsored by Francis Waive (APC, Delta), seeks to revisit the controversial electronic transmission of results that was a source of controversy and deep-seated politicking at the two chambers of the 9th National Assembly before the 2023 poll.
Recall that the lawmakers, mainly of the ruling APC, opposed empowering INEC to transmit election results electronically and had their way by giving INEC discretionary powers on the transmission of results.
Section 60(5) of the extant Electoral Act reads: “The presiding officer shall transfer the results, including the total number of accredited voters and the results of the ballot, in a manner as prescribed by the Commission.”
Despite assurances by INEC to transmit results in real-time, it failed to live up to the expectations of Nigerians by blaming its inadequacies on unforeseen system glitches.
And, intended to resolve to instil confidence in the electoral system and avoid litigations, the lawmaker said the bill also seeks to amend section 60(5) of the Act to compel the presiding officer to transfer and or transmit the results, including a total number of accredited voters and the results of the ballot, electronically.
While leading the debate, Waive stressed the need not to give room for ambiguity on the issue of electronic transmission of results, which could be abused on election day.
“The proposed legislation,” he added, “seeks to amend section 28 of the principal act with the proposal that all elections – Presidential, Senate, House of Representatives, Governors and State Assemblies are held on the same day to reduce the cost of election and reduce what he termed “the bandwagon effect”.
Further, while the bill is proposing to amend Section 47 of the Act to make accreditation mandatory, the proposed amendment demands that only accredited voters can vote.
The bill, which also seeks to empower INEC to produce new voters register every 10 years to remove dead people from the register, proposes the following amendment: “Without prejudice to the provisions of this section and subject subsection (2), every 10 years the Commission shall carry out a re-registration exercise of all eligible voters in preparation for the next general elections.”
Speaking on the proposed amendments to section 130 (2), which seeks to provide a penalty for the presentation of frivolous petitions to an election tribunal, Waive explained that this will allow the courts to focus on legitimate grievances and prioritize cases with substantial merits.
Already, the proposed legislation has elicited the support of the Centre for Leadership, Strategy, and Development (ALSD), which noted that conducting general elections over several days is rooted in the country’s general culture of waste of time, energy, resources, manpower, and goodwill.
A don at Nile University, Abuja, Dr Isoro Izu, who spoke on the issue during the ALSD roundtable discussion contended that it is unfortunate that whenever the economy is shut down due to multiple days of election conduct, the country suffers losses, losing trillions of naira in both the organised and private sectors of the economy.
But, condemning the delay in delivering on the crucial legislations, the Abuja-based Human Rights Writers Association (HURIWA), blamed the National Assembly’s penchant for slavish loyalty to the executive arm of government for most of the lapses in the law-making process.
National Coordinator of the association, Emmanuel Onwubiko, lamented that such loyalty becomes more deadly when the political interests of the president conflict with the free flow of democracy.
Onwubiko stated: “The 10th National Assembly has disappointed Nigerians on many fronts because its leadership has shown a lot of compromises and has demonstrated their lack of independence and commitment to the ideals of democracy and the principles of separation of powers as stipulated in the Constitution.
“The National Assembly under Godswill Akpabio and the Speaker may not be willing to allow for the passage of far-reaching and reform-minded initiatives in the Electoral Act that may imperil the political and selfish interest of President Tinubu, whose ambition for a second term has reached a feverish point.”
While stressing that the reforms of the electoral laws are key to ensuring that the 2027 polls are free, transparent, peaceful, and acceptable to all and sundry, Onwubiko regretted the delay in passing those amendments in the extant electoral Act.
“It is most likely as a result of the fact that the leadership of the National Assembly is actually kowtowing to the whims and caprices of the President, who wants to get a second term by all means possible, even at the risk of endangering a transparent election in 2027,” he noted.
Other observers noted that the challenges of conducting free and fair elections are attributable to weak institutions, including but not limited to weak legal frameworks.
They also attributed the shortcomings to the prevailing poor political culture among voters and politicians, particularly disdain for rules and excessive use of money to bribe voters and electoral agencies.
As the National Assembly resumes, all eyes will be on the Senate to see how it resolves the lingering issues around the State of Emergency in Rivers State, especially given the unconstitutional use of voice vote to affirm the Presidential proclamation.
The Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre (PLAC) expressed grave disappointment with the voice vote, calling it a “failure to serve as a constitutional check on executive overreach.”
In a statement, PLAC’s Executive Director, Clement Nwankwo, said that the Senate’s decision marked a grave failure on the part of the legislature.
“The primary responsibility of the National Assembly is to serve as a check on executive power, ensuring that all actions taken by the President and the executive are within the bounds of the Constitution.
“In approving this State of Emergency, the National Assembly has neglected its constitutional duty, allowing the executive to bypass democratic processes.
“The decision to declare a State of Emergency is not a matter to be taken lightly and should be exercised only under the most exceptional circumstances.
“However, there is no evidence to suggest that the situation in Rivers State warrants such an extreme measure or that the threshold for making such a proclamation, as indicated in section 305 of the 1999 Constitution, has been met.
“Instead of safeguarding democracy and the rule of law, the National Assembly has chosen to passively endorse an unconstitutional overreach of executive power, thereby weakening the checks and balances that are essential to our democratic system.
“The decision to do this via voice vote, when section 305 (6)(b) of the Constitution clearly requires that the proclamation of a State of Emergency by the President must be supported by a two-thirds majority of all the members of each House of the National Assembly, is a travesty and flies in the face of constitutionality, legality and good reasoning,” Nwankwo declared.
It is expected that before the National Assembly embarks on another prolonged recess, it would have used the intervening days to show empathy and demonstrate seriousness in serving Nigerians.
Acting boldly, independently, and constitutionally, the federal legislature would remember that its power lies not just in law-making, but in safeguarding the very fabric of our democracy.
It would be seen in the days ahead whether the 10th National Assembly has resolved to demonstrate loyalty to power or fidelity to the people.
