Maxwell Opara, a constitutional lawyer, has criticized Senate President Godswill Akpabio, alleging that Akpabio violated the Nigerian Constitution by participating in a Senate vote when he was not supposed to, during a controversial session of the National Assembly. Opara made the remarks during an interview on Arise Television, in which he challenged the legality of Akpabio’s conduct during proceedings tied to the Electoral Act Amendment Bill 2026.
The controversy stems from a heated plenary session in which the Senate debated and passed amendments to the Electoral Act, particularly around Clause 60 and provisions on electronic transmission of election results. The Senate session saw intense disagreement among lawmakers, with a division on whether the clause permitting manual backup transmission should remain. Overall, 55 senators voted to retain the manual fallback, while 15 opposed it.
Opara argued that Akpabio’s actions breached Section 56(1) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), which limits the circumstances under which the Senate president may cast a vote. Under constitutional practice, the presiding officer of legislative chambers is not typically expected to vote except in specific tie-breaking situations. Opara said this standard was not upheld during the voting exercise.
According to him, “The action of the Senate president yesterday was very unconstitutional. It’s a breach of the constitution, section 56, subsection 1, because when the Senate president called for a vote, he joined in the voting. You don’t vote; the constitution said that you don’t vote except where the votes are equal—you’ll not vote to decide. Immediately after he called for a vote yesterday, he jumped up from his seat and voted. That one is on that…. Discover More
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