The lawmaker representing Abia North, Orji Uzor Kalu, has said the National Assembly’s joint committee on the Electoral Act amendment is expected to meet to conclude deliberations on the proposed legislation.
Kalu disclosed this on Tuesday during an appearance on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily, noting that the harmonisation process between the Senate and the House of Representatives is already underway.
Speaking on the progress of the bill, he said the committee had intensified efforts to resolve differences in the amendment.
“We are making steady progress on the Electoral Act. There was an emergency meeting last week, and another session is scheduled for today so we can finalise our position,” he said.
The senator explained that legislative activities initially planned for later in the month had been adjusted to prioritise the electoral reform process.
“We were expected to reconvene on the 24th, possibly for budget-related work, but those plans were set aside so we could focus on the harmonisation exercise,” he added.
Kalu, who confirmed he is a member of the joint committee, said discussions had already begun at the National Assembly and would soon produce a unified outcome.
“The harmonisation has officially commenced. I spent several hours at the Assembly working on it, and Nigerians will hear the final decision from us soon,” he stated.
The Senate had earlier constituted a 12-member panel to work with the House in reconciling differences in the amendment bill. The move followed disagreements over the method of transmitting election results.
While the Senate approved electronic transmission, it removed the provision mandating real-time upload of results, allowing manual collation where technology fails.
The House of Representatives, however, retained the clause requiring immediate electronic upload from polling units to the electoral commission’s result portal.
