The President of the Nigerian Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio, has issued a directive to Lawmakers to reconvene for an emergency plenary session on Tuesday, February 10th, 2026.
A statement from Emmanuel Odo, the Senate Clerk, asked all Senators to be present at 12 pm, local time.
In the statement, Odo indicated that all senators have been kindly requested to attend the emergency plenary sitting.
“The President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio has directed the reconvening of plenary for an emergency sitting on Tuesday, February 10th 2026,” the statement read in part.
This follows the reported Senate’s February 4 rejection of a proposed amendment for mandatory real-time electronic transmission of election results in the Electoral Act.
The report has sparked widespread criticism from some stakeholders who say the Senate is undermining electoral transparency ahead of the 2027 polls.
The Nigerian Lawmakers were divided as some of them kicked against reports that the Senate had rejected mandatory electronic transmission of election results during its Wednesday’s passage of the Electoral Act 2022 (Repeal and Re-enactment) Amendment Bill 2026.
As outrage trailed the Senate’s reported decision, Senators Enyinnaya Abaribe, Victor Umeh and Abdul Ningi, among others, stated that they stand on the proposed amendment to Clause 60, Subsection 3, of the bill, which sought to make the electronic transmission of election results mandatory, and vowed that the provision would be monitored to the point of transmission for Presidential assent.
According to them, more than two-third of the Senate wanted real-time transmission of election results and the Senate had yet to conclude the matter.
Led by Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe(APGA, Abia South), the senators told reporters in Abuja that the Senate did not reconvene to approve the votes and proceedings of the plenary, and vowed to ensure that because there is still one more step left by the Senate to take.
According to the Senators, they were worried by the backlash that followed Wednesday’s rejection by the Senate of electronic transmission of election results in real time by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, as contained in section 60 (3) of the 2026 Electoral bill.
“On page 45 of the report of the Senate Committee on Electoral Matters, Clause 60( 3), the provision states: “The Presiding Officer shall electronically transmit the results from each polling unit to IREV portal in real time and such transmission shall be done after the prescribed Form EC8A has been signed and stamped by the Presiding Officer and/or countersigned by the candidates or polling agents available at the polling unit”.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio had, during the consideration of the bill clause-by-clause last Wednesday, announced that clause 60 as amended and not as recommended, which led the media to widely report that the new provision was rejected.
Supported by 12 other senators, Senator Abaribe, at a press briefing, declared that the Senate did not reject electronic transmission of results, adding that the 13 senators and many others across political divides would monitor the very important provision to the point of transmission for presidential assent.
“To put the record straight, yesterday (Wednesday), the Senate did not, I repeat, not pass transfer of results which was in the 2022 Act. What we passed, and which the Senate President himself said, when he was doing a clarification, sitting on his chair, is electronic transmission of results.”
Apart from Senator Abaribe, the other 12 senators include Abdul Ningi(PDP, Bauchi Central); Austin Akobundu(PDP, Abia Central); Peter Jiya(PDP, Niger South); Ireti Kingibe(ADC, FCT); Victor Umeh(LP, Anambra Central); and Binos Yaroe(PDP, Adamawa South).
The rest are Senators Kabeeb Mustapha(PDP Jigawa South West); Khalid Mustapha(PDP Kaduna North); Mohammed Onawo(ADC, Nasarawa South); Aminu Tambuwal(PDP, Sokoto South); Tony Nwoye(LP, Anambra North); and Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan(PDP, Kogi Central).
Speaking further, Senator Abaribe said they organised the briefing to set the record straight and assure Nigerians that the provision shall be monitored by them to the point of transmission for presidential assent.
“I can assure you on my own, and on all of us who are standing here, that both the Electoral Committee of the Senate and the Ad Hoc Committee of the Senate, and also in the Executive Session, that we all agreed on Section 60 (3), which is electronic transmission of votes, or electronic transmission of results.”
Senator Abaribe, who explained that there was a joint committee of members of the electoral committees in both chambers that worked on the electoral act amendment bill proposal, said: “The joint committees had several retreats, everyone agreed at the end of the retreat that electronic transmission of results was the way to go. And that was reflected in the reports, both in the House and in Senate reports, and I think the Senate President reiterated it yesterday.
“And it was the report of the Senate ad hoc committee that we considered when we went into a closed session, so that we can tidy up the report. And when we now come back to plenary to pass it, we will pass it without any rancour.
“I can assure you on the honour of all of us who are standing here, that both the electoral committee of the Senate and the ad hoc committee of the Senate and also in the executive session that we have, that we all agreed on Section 63,(3), which is electronic transmission of votes.”
It would be recalled that the Nigerian Senate, through its President, Senator Akpabio, dismissed reports claiming that it rejected the electronic transmission of election results during consideration of the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill.
The clarification came from Senator Akpabio shortly after the Senate passed the bill following a marathon session that lasted for about four and a half hours.
It was reported that the Senate had rejected a proposal that would have compelled presiding officers of the Independent National Electoral Commission to transmit results electronically from each polling unit to the INEC Result Viewing (IREV) portal in real time, after signing and stamping the prescribed result forms.
However, Senator Akpabio insisted that the interpretation was misleading, stressing that the Senate did not remove electronic transmission from the law.
“Distinguished colleagues, the social media is already awash with reports that the Senate has literally rejected electronic transmission of results. That is not true. What we did was to retain the electronic transmission which has been in the act and was used in 2022.
“So please, do not allow people to confuse you. If you are in doubt, we will make our final votes and proceedings available to you if you apply.
“This Senate under my watch has not rejected the electronic transmission of results. It is in my interest as a participant in the next election for such to be done. So please don’t go with the crowd.
“We have retained what was in the previous provision by way of amendment. That was all we did. The previous provision has made allowance for electronic transmission. So it is still there as part of our law. We cannot afford to be going backwards,” he added.
Senator Akpabio’s intervention was aimed at calming public concerns and correcting what he described as deliberate or careless misrepresentation of the Senate’s action on the bill, as the National Assembly continues work on amendments ahead of future elections