The Senate has voted against a proposed 10-year jail term for individuals involved in the buying or selling of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs), opting instead to retain the existing two-year imprisonment term while raising the fine from ₦2 million to ₦5 million under Clause 22 of the Electoral Amendment Bill.
The decision was reached during the chamber’s clause-by-clause consideration of the bill on Wednesday, where lawmakers also approved several key adjustments to Nigeria’s electoral timelines and processes.
Under Clause 28, the Senate reduced the notice of election period from 360 days to 180 days before polling day, while Clause 29 shortened the deadline for political parties to submit candidates’ lists and affidavits from 180 days to 90 days prior to the general elections. All nominees, the Senate emphasized, must emerge from validly conducted party primaries.Remove featured image
In Clause 44, the Senate maintained provisions on ballot paper formats, directing the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to invite political parties no later than 20 days before an election to inspect sample materials. Parties will then have two days to either approve or raise objections regarding how their identities appear on the ballot.
Lawmakers also approved changes under Clause 47, which replaces the smart card reader with the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) for voter accreditation and balloting. However, the Senate rejected the use of electronically generated voter identification, reaffirming the Permanent Voter Card (PVC) as the official means of identification at polling units.
The chamber further deleted Clause 142, which sought to define the effect of non-compliance in elections, arguing that it could complicate judicial proceedings and waste court time by restricting the admissibility of oral evidence in election petitions.
For the bill to become law, both chambers of the National Assembly — the Senate and the House of Representatives — must harmonise their versions before forwarding the final draft to President Bola Tinubu for assent.
Meanwhile, several political figures and groups, including the Labour Party, a Turaki-led faction of the PDP, former PDP Deputy National Chairman Chief Olabode George, and APGA founder Chief Chekwas Okorie, have criticised the Senate’s decision to reject electronic transmission of election results, describing it as a setback to electoral transparency.
