Leading Arise News anchors, Reuben Abati and Rufai Oseni, on Thursday disagreed over the Electoral Amendment Act on live television.
DAILY POST reports that the two chambers of the National Assembly recently passed the Electoral Amendment Act, which approved the electronic transmission of election results, with manual collation retained as a backup.
President Bola Tinubu signed the Electoral Act, 2022 (Repeal and Re-Enactment) Bill 2026 into law barely 24 hours after it was passed by the National Assembly.
The passage and signing of the Electoral Act sparked controversy.
Speaking on live television on Thursday, Rufai said, “They passed the law to make it mandatory for electronic transmission. Once you have two arms that are supposed to be separated and the Senate president is said to be loyal to the President, then it’s a problem for Nigeria because we can’t get effective representation.
“And with due respect, the Senate doesn’t represent us. They’re there to represent the interest of the President, that’s why they are doing everything in the interest of the president. Let’s call a spade a spade.
“This is a democracy for Christ’s sake. It’s not an authoritarian government or a military government.”
Disagreeing, Abati said, “Even in the United States, you go with your party. In the US, which is not a parliamentary system, there is that faithfulness among the party. So you have the opposition, the minority, which can have a say.
“So what do you expect Senate President Akpabio to say? To go against his own party or to go against the president of the ruling party to which he belongs?”
