THE House of Representatives has constituted a bipartisan Conference Committee on the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill to harmonise areas of disagreement between the versions of the legislation passed by both chambers of the National Assembly.
News Point Nigeria reports that the development was disclosed in a statement issued on Thursday by the spokesman of the House, Akin Rotimi, who said the decision followed a directive from the leadership of the House.
According to Rotimi, the constitution of the committee was conveyed through an internal correspondence from the Clerk to the House of Representatives, Dr Yahaya Danzaria, in line with parliamentary procedures for resolving legislative differences between the Senate and the House.
He said the conference committee would engage its counterpart from the Senate to reconcile the differing provisions in the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill with a view to producing a harmonised version for final consideration and passage by the National Assembly.
The House conference committee is chaired by Rep. Adebayo Balogun, Chairman of the House Committee on Electoral Matters. Other members are Reps. Fred Agbedi, Sada Soli, Ahmadu Jaha, Iduma Igariwey Enwo, Saidu Musa Abdullahi, and Dr Zainab Gimba.
The statement noted that the committee’s mandate is to thoroughly review contentious clauses in the amendment bill and agree on a unified text that reflects the resolutions of both chambers, in order to advance Nigeria’s electoral reform agenda.
The House of Representatives reaffirmed its commitment to strengthening the nation’s democratic process through credible electoral reforms aimed at enhancing transparency, accountability and public confidence in elections.
Meanwhile, the Senate has also constituted its own conference committee to work alongside the House team. Senate President Godswill Akpabio, on Wednesday, announced the membership of the Senate committee tasked with harmonising the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill.
Akpabio said the Senate committee would be chaired by Senator Simon Bako Lalong, with Senators Niyi Adegbonmire, Mohammed Tahir Monguno, Adamu Aliero, Orji Uzor Kalu, Abba Moro, Asuquo Ekpenyong, Aminu Abbas, and Tokunbo Abiru as members.
Both chambers are expected to conclude the harmonisation process in the coming weeks, after which the consolidated bill will be presented to the National Assembly for final passage, marking a critical step in Nigeria’s ongoing efforts to reform its electoral framework.
