Electoral Reform: Police fire tear gas at protesters at National Assembly

Operatives of the Nigerian Police Force on Tuesday dispersed protesters with tear gas outside the National Assembly of Nigeria, as tensions escalated over demands for mandatory real-time electronic transmission of election results in the Electoral Act Amendment Bill.

The protesters had returned to the National Assembly complex after suspending demonstrations for five days, following assurances given during last week’s legislative sitting.

The demonstration was triggered by controversy surrounding deliberations at the Nigerian Senate over Clause 60(3) of the proposed Electoral Act amendment.

During an emergency plenary session last Tuesday, Senate Chief Whip, Tahir Monguno, a member of the All Progressives Congress, reportedly moved a motion to remove the phrase “real-time” from the clause and replace the word “transmission” with “transfer”.

The move sparked widespread backlash from civil society groups, electoral reform advocates and sections of the public, who insist that real-time electronic transmission remains critical to ensuring transparency and credibility in future elections.

Protesters said they resumed demonstrations after sensing possible reversal of earlier commitments by lawmakers to strengthen electronic result transmission provisions in the amendment bill.