Elumelu berates Dep Speaker, Wase, for opposition to Electoral Amendment Act

A lawmaker with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at the House of Representatives, Ndudi Elumelu on Friday berated the Deputy Speaker, Ahmed Wase for his opposition to the amendment of the Electoral Act.

Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, had on Thursday explained why the chamber did not adopt e-voting for the clause-by-clause consideration and passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) and the Electoral Act 2010 (Amendment) Bill.

He said the chamber did not adopt electronic voting for PIB and Electoral Act 2010 (Amendment) Bill because it would be challenging to deploy e-voting for such huge legislation.

However, during a media briefing at the plenary on Friday, Elumelu disclosed that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and Nigeria Communication Commission (NCC) confirmed their readiness to ensure the electronic transmission of results.

“We agreed we should invite INEC and NCC to transmit electronically.

READ ALSO: Many APC Reps ready to join PDP, says Elumelu

“They claim INEC should not come due to alleged partisanship but INEC came during the hearing and confirmed they can.

“Same clause 52 that speaker wants to be suspended; the deputy speaker decided to ignore the whole house and started from clause 54 against the agreement.

“The deputy speaker is out of line and we will continue with our demands in the next sitting.”

Section 52(3) notes that, INEC “may transmit results of elections by electronic means where and when practicable.”

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