Seriake Dickson, a senator representing Bayelsa West, has urged his fellow lawmakers to fully implement the House-passed version of the Electoral Amendment Bill as they meet in conference.
In a Wednesday presentation to journalists in Abuja, Dickson made this demand, expressing concern that the integrity of the elections could be jeopardised if the electronic transmission provision were to be watered down.
This comes just 48 hours after the Senate allowed manual collation as a backup in case technology fails and reinstated electronic transmission of election results to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)/Result Viewing Portal.
Members of the Senate Committee on Electoral Matters, including the former governor of Bayelsa State, claim that stakeholders and legislators have already laboured extensively to improve the country’s electoral framework prior to the most recent changes made by the Senate.
“We laboured diligently on revisions to the election laws for nearly two years as members of the Senate Committee on Electoral Matters. In my opinion, we ought to follow the model set by the House of Representatives.
Public hearings were conducted in both Abuja and Lagos, and we also met with INEC, the technical committee, consultants, and other interested parties. We also had joint sessions with the House of Representatives.
Together with INEC, we reached a consensus on a framework to govern future elections in our nation.
Unfortunately, catastrophe occurred before we could finish the process. “The entire state and my family are in mourning after the sudden collapse and death of our Deputy Governor,” he stated.