The Conference Committee tasked with harmonising differences between the Senate and House of Representatives on the Electoral Act (Repeal and Re-enactment) Bill, 2026, was first scheduled for 11am. Senators arrived on time. House members did not. A rescheduled 3pm session met the same fate. By late afternoon, only the two committee chairmen — Senator Simon Lalong and House counterpart Adebayo Balogun — were both present, and even then only for a brief ten-minute closed-door exchange before everyone dispersed. “How can there be a conclusion when the meeting failed to hold?” one senior committee member said bluntly.
The stakes could hardly be higher. With exactly 368 days to the February 20, 2027, general elections, the committee must reconcile 20 contested clauses, including the most explosive one of all: Clause 60(3), which determines whether electronic transmission of election results will be mandatory.
The Ghost of 2023