The Nigerian Senate has abruptly suspended its legislative break to convene an emergency plenary session on Tuesday, February 10, 2026. The decision follows a weekend of mounting national outrage and high-profile protests over controversial changes to the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill.
In a notice issued on Sunday by the Clerk of the Senate, Emmanuel Odo, lawmakers were directed to return to the chambers by 12:00 PM on the orders of Senate President Godswill Akpabio. While the official circular did not explicitly state the agenda, the timing coincides with a period of intense public scrutiny regarding the upper chamber’s recent rejection of mandatory "real-time" electronic transmission of election results.
The emergency recall effectively interrupts a planned two-week adjournment intended for budget defence sessions. This legislative U-turn was announced before a massive "Occupy NASS" demonstration in Abuja on Monday, where former Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi joined civil society groups to demand a reversal of the Senate's decision.
Protesters carrying placards that read "Akpabio don’t destroy our democracy" were met by a heavy security presence at the National Assembly gates. Addressing the press at the scene, Peter Obi warned that any attempt to weaken the electronic transmission process would compromise the 2027 general elections. He emphasised that Nigerians do not want a repeat of past technical glitches that marred the credibility of previous polls.
The core of the dispute lies in Clause 60(3) of the new bill. During a heated session on February 4, the Senate voted down a proposal to make it mandatory for presiding officers to transmit polling unit results directly to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Result Viewing (IReV) portal in real-time. Instead, the lawmakers retained discretionary wording that permits "transfer" rather than mandatory "transmission", a distinction critics claim leaves the system vulnerable to human interference during collation.
Defending the Senate’s position, Senate President Godswill Akpabio has maintained that the legislature did not reject electronic transmission entirely. He insisted that the wording was chosen to mitigate potential issues with network stability in rural areas. However, this explanation has failed to satisfy major stakeholders, including the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Senate Minority Caucus, who argue that the ambiguity creates a trust deficit.