Nigerian Senate Rejects Bill To Make Electronic Transmission Of Election Results Mandatory
Adedokun Waliyu
2 min read
The Nigerian Senate has rejected a proposed amendment to the Electoral Act intended to make the electronic transmission of election results mandatory.
The upper legislative chamber on Wednesday voted against the amendment to Clause 60, Subsection 3, of the Electoral Amendment Bill, which sought to strip the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of its discretionary powers regarding the mode of result transmission.
The rejected provision would have legally compelled INEC presiding officers to electronically transmit results from each polling unit directly to the result viewing portal (IREV) in real time.
This was to be done immediately after the prescribed Form EC8A had been signed and stamped by the presiding officer and countersigned by party agents.
Instead of the proposed reform, the Senate opted to retain the controversial existing provision of the Electoral Act.
The current law states that “the presiding officer shall transfer the results, including the total number of accredited voters and the results of the ballot, in a manner as prescribed by the Commission.”
By adopting this stance, the lawmakers have effectively allowed INEC to continue deciding whether or not to use electronic transmission, a loophole that critics argue was exploited to undermine the integrity of the 2023 general elections.
The development has been received with deep shock and disappointment by many Nigerians and civil society organisations (CSOs) who had championed the amendment as a necessary step to curb manual alteration of results at collation centers.
Political analysts told SaharaReporters that the Senate’s decision is a “regressive step” that threatens the future of Nigeria’s democracy.
“We thought the National Assembly would learn from the failures of 2023 where the IREV portal became a source of national embarrassment,” Gerald Ede stated. “By rejecting mandatory transmission, the Senate has essentially given a green light for the status quo of ‘manual miracles’ and result manipulation to continue.”
The push for mandatory real-time transmission was seen as the “silver bullet” to restore voter confidence in the electoral process.
The rejection comes amid rising calls for electoral reforms that would minimize human interference.
Critics argue that leaving the “manner” of transmission to the discretion of the commission, which has a history of “technical glitches” during critical hours of result collation, is a recipe for continued electoral disputes and lack of legitimacy for elected officials.
