ABUJA – The Senate has moved decisively to address critical national issues, establishing two ad-hoc committees to finalise amendments to the Electoral Act, 2022 (Repeal and Enactment) Bill and investigate alleged decadence in the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC).
President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, announced on Thursday that a small committee would be formed to consolidate Senators’ views on the Electoral Act bill, following a closed executive session where lawmakers began examining the report of the Senate Committee on Electoral Matters chaired by Sen. Simon Lalong.
“The Senate has set up a small committee to galvanize and distill all the opinions of distinguished senators and present them for final deliberation on Tuesday,” Akpabio said.
Sen. Niyi Adegbonmire will serve as chairman, with Senators Adamu Aliero, Aminu Tambuwal, Adams Oshiomhole, Danjuma Goje, Tony Nwoye, and Titus Zam as members.
The committee is expected to complete its assignment within 48 hours or at most three days.
The Clerk of the Senate will serve as secretary.
In a separate development, the Senate also constituted an ad-hoc committee to investigate the deteriorating state of Nigeria’s railway infrastructure, following a point of order raised by Sen. Abdul Ningi (PDP-Bauchi). Ningi highlighted the decline of the Kano–Kaduna rail line, commissioned by former President Goodluck Jonathan in 2015 and re-commissioned by the late President Muhammadu Buhari.
“Where there were 10,000 daily commuters, numbers have fallen to 800–900, and trips have been reduced from 10 daily shuttles to just two,” Ningi told the Senate.
He added that during peak operations, the line generated N1.8 billion monthly.
Sen. Adamu Aliero (APC-Kebbi) confirmed that bandit attacks and damaged coaches had compounded NRC’s revenue challenges but assured that the Federal Government was mobilising funds to restore railway services.
The railway ad-hoc committee is chaired by Sen. Adams Oshiomhole (APC-Edo), with Senators Enyinnaya Abaribe (APGA-Abia), Osita Ngwu (PDP-Enugu), Ibrahim Dankwambo (PDP-Gombe), Ede Dafinone (APC-Delta), and Ireti Kingibe (LP-FCT) as members. Senate President Akpabio urged the committee to submit its findings within six weeks.
