Senator Victor Umeh has said that members of the National Assembly are now facing public attacks and insults over the recent controversy surrounding the amendment of the Electoral Act.
Umeh made the remark on Thursday while fielding questions on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme.
He suggested that sudden changes in the proposed amendment were introduced at the Senate, contrary to the provisions lawmakers had earlier agreed upon.
According to him, the amendment was aimed at addressing lapses observed in previous elections, particularly disputes arising from the non-recognition of electronic transmission of results in court.
Umeh recalled that past elections were challenged after claims of technical glitches, with courts declining to rely on electronically transmitted results because such provisions were not clearly captured in the Electoral Act.
He explained that the amendment was designed to correct such anomalies and strengthen the electoral process.
The senator noted that the bill enjoyed wide support during its legislative process, adding that no major opposition was recorded at the time.
He said the level of public outcry being witnessed shows that expunging the electronic transmission of election results from the amendment is not in the public interest, even as lawmakers continue to face criticism.
Umeh said: “You don’t introduce surprises in the middle of a process. This thing has been agreed to by everybody, and it is in accord with the expectations of the Nigerian people. There is no way we can have an election that was conducted and the results were made available, then along the line there was a complaint of a glitch in the presidential election, and everything went to court, and the court says it will not make use of the electronic transmission of results because it was unknown to the Electoral Act.
“That is why lawmaking is ingenious. You do that with a view to correcting the lapses and anomalies of the past. That is why, from all the processes this amendment went through, nobody opposed it. It was very popular. And as it has happened, I want to tell you that if it was not against the public interest, the level of outcry it has generated would not be so high, because we, the senators, are under barrages of attacks and have been insulted.”
DAILY POST reports that the Senate recently passed the Electoral Act amendment bill after its third reading but rejected a proposed amendment to Clause 60, Subsection 3, which sought to make electronic transmission of election results mandatory.
The development followed pressure from the media and other stakeholders, who have argued that electronic transmission of results is crucial to ensuring free, fair, and credible elections ahead of the 2027 polls.
Electoral Act Amendment: Senators now under attack, insulted – Umeh cries out
