BREAKING: House of Reps adjourns deliberations on Electoral Act after rowdy session

The House of Representatives has adjourned debate on the Electoral Act Amendment Bill following after the parliament descended into a rowdy session on Thursday.

The problem started after Deputy Speaker of the House, Idris Wase, ruled against electronic transmission of results after the lawmakers voted massively in favour of the matter.

Wase presided over the deliberations on the amendment of section 52(3) of the electoral act amendment bill while Speaker of the House, Femi Gbajabiamila, was on the floor of the House.

The new amendment provides that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) may consider the electronic transmission of election results so far the national network coverage is adjudged to be adequate and secure by Nigeria Communication Commission (NCC) and approved by the National Assembly.

After deliberating on the electronic transmission of election results, the lawmakers voted orally and totally in support of the matter.

But the deputy speaker ruled against the electronic transmission of results to spark an angry response from the lawmakers.

READ ALSO: Senate passes Electoral Act Amendment Bill

Normalcy was restored in the House a few minutes later and the lawmakers continued deliberations on the matter.

The lawmakers called for another round of votes and despite another majority vote in favour of electronic transmission of results, Wase ruled against the motion.

After the crisis degenerated, the Speaker was forced to take back his seat and moved a motion for the adjournment of the session.

Consequently, the House adjourned deliberations on the contentious issue till 10:00 a.m. on Friday. The INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, and the Executive Vice-Chairman of NCC, Umar Danbatta, are expected to attend the session.

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