The House of Representatives was on Tuesday engulfed in disorder as lawmakers clashed over moves to revisit the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill, 2025.
The tension-filled sitting, presided over by Speaker Tajudeen Abbas, witnessed heated exchanges shortly after plenary resumed.
Proceedings began with the Speaker reading the sole item listed on the day’s Order Paper, a motion seeking to rescind the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill, 2025.
The motion was moved by the Chairman of the House Committee on Rules and Business, Francis Waive, and seconded by the Chairman of the Committee on Electoral Matters, Adebayo Balogun.
While presenting the motion, Waive explained that a Technical Committee made up of the leadership of both chambers of the National Assembly, members of the Conference Committee, the Clerks of the Senate and the House, as well as legal drafting experts from the Directorate of Legal Services, had met to harmonise grey areas identified in the legislation.
According to him, the committee considered the need to uphold electoral timelines and statutory requirements, while strengthening inclusivity, transparency, administrative efficiency and public trust in the nation’s electoral system.
He said the proposed rescission was intended to correct inconsistencies and unintended implications in the bill by recommitting it to the Committee of the Whole for fresh consideration.
However, trouble erupted when the Speaker put the motion to a voice vote.
Although the “nays” appeared louder, Abbas proceeded to recognise the “ayes,” a move that triggered protests from lawmakers, particularly members of the minority caucus who insisted they were in the majority.
In the heat of the moment, a member from Jigawa State, Abubakar Yalleman, was observed gesturing angrily toward his Osun counterpart, Bamidele Salam, though the exact cause of their exchange could not be immediately ascertained.
As tensions escalated and shouting intensified across the chamber, the Speaker adjourned plenary into a closed-door executive session.
Lawmakers were yet to reconvene at the time of filing this report.
Meanwhile, a legislator who spoke on condition of anonymity alleged that there were attempts to tamper with the version of the bill earlier passed by the House, warning that members would resist any alteration.
According to the source, the chamber would not entertain what he described as a “doctored” version of the amendment bill.
The development comes against the backdrop of efforts by the National Assembly to harmonise differences between the Senate and the House versions of the proposed amendment.
While the House had approved the real-time electronic transmission of election results, the Senate endorsed the provision with a clause permitting manual transmission where electronic transmission proves unsuccessful.