The Senate has explained the reason it refused to take a position on the proposed amendment to the Electoral Act seeking to criminalise dual party membership, insisting that it could not deliberate on the matter until it is formally transmitted from the House of Representatives.

Chairman of the Senate Committee on Media and Publicity, Yemi Adaramodu, made the clarification in an interview with Sunday PUNCH, on Friday.

He said, “Even if any amendment is coming, we are running a bicameral legislature. So, we can’t comment on it until it gets to us. If anything scales through the first and second readings and does not go to public hearing and then to the Committee of Whole and the House of Reps to deliberate and pass to us, we cannot comment on it. There can’t be an amendment yet until it comes to us from the House.

“In a nutshell, even after the President’s assent, there could still be an amendment, whether private, executive or coming from the public through a legislator. So, this law cannot be enacted wholly until it passes through the other chamber. As of now, it has not come to us. So we can’t comment further on it.”

Adaramodu’s position reflects the constitutional requirement that any amendment to an existing law must be passed by both chambers of the National Assembly before being forwarded to the President for assent.

The senate’s cautious stance comes two weeks after the House of Representatives passed an amendment to the Electoral Act 2026 aimed at prohibiting individuals from holding membership in more than one political party simultaneously.

Under the proposed law, offenders risk a fine of N10m, a maximum prison term of two years, or both, marking a significant shift from the current administrative approach to enforcement.

The amendment introduces three new subsections to Section 77 of the Act, which governs political party membership. It provides that any individual found to be registered in more than one political party at the same time would have such memberships declared invalid.

It states, “A person shall not be registered as a member of more than one political party at the same time.

“Where it is established that a person is registered as a member of more than one political party at the same time, such dual membership shall be void, and the person shall cease to be recognised as a valid member of any political party pending regularisation in accordance with the provisions of this Act and the constitution of the political party concerned.

“A person who knowingly registers or maintains membership in more than one political party at the same time commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine of N10m or to imprisonment for a term of two years, or both.”

If eventually signed into law, the amendment is expected to strengthen the legal framework regulating party affiliation and introduce criminal penalties for violations.

The move follows mounting concerns over allegations that some politicians maintain links with multiple political parties—a practice critics argue undermines internal party discipline and weakens the integrity of Nigeria’s electoral system.

Although existing laws already require citizens to belong to only one political party at a time, enforcement has largely remained administrative, with limited legal consequences.

Proponents of the amendment argue that the absence of clear criminal sanctions has created loopholes that are frequently exploited, particularly during party primaries and candidate nominations.

The Issue has gained renewed attention in recent years amid frequent political defections and disputes over party membership registers, further intensifying calls for stricter legal provisions to safeguard the credibility of the electoral process. (Sunday PUNCH)

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