Senate Schedules Emergency Sitting Amid E-Transmission Controversy

The Senate has scheduled an emergency plenary session for Tuesday, February 10, 2026, at the National Assembly complex in Abuja.
In a notice issued by the Clerk of the Senate, Emmanuel Odo, lawmakers were directed to reconvene at noon on the instruction of Senate President Godswill Akpabio. The memo urged all senators to attend and apologised for any inconvenience caused by the sudden sitting.
Although no official reason was given, the emergency session comes amid controversy over provisions on electronic transmission of election results in the Electoral Act amendment bill, which recently passed third reading.
While the Senate retained electronic transfer of results as contained in the 2022 Electoral Act, it rejected proposals for real-time transmission and a 10-year ban on vote-buyers, opting instead to keep existing penalties of fines and jail terms.
Amid public criticism, Senator Victor Umeh of Anambra Central said more than 85 per cent of senators supported electronic transmission, noting that only the phrase “in real time” was removed due to concerns over network challenges. He added that confusion arose during plenary when a motion reportedly sought to replace “transmission” with “transfer” without debate.