Electoral Act: Senate okays conditional e-transmission of results
Proceedings in the Senate turned rowdy yesterday as lawmakers rescinded and re-amended provisions of the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill, 2026, to accommodate electronic transmission of election results, but without making real-time upload mandatory.
The tension followed the Senate’s decision to revisit Clause 60(3) of the bill, barely days after it had rejected a proposal seeking to compel real-time electronic transmission of results from polling units to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC,’s Result Viewing Portal, IReV.
After hours of heated debate, the Senate adopted a revised Clause 60(3) mandating electronic transmission of results after Form EC8A (result sheet) had been signed and stamped at polling units, while providing that where electronic transmission fails due to network challenges, the manually signed EC8A shall remain the primary basis for collation and declaration of results.
However, the amended clause stopped short of compelling real-time transmission.
What the amendment says
The re-amended Clause 60(3) provides that: “Results shall be transmitted electronically from each polling unit to the IReV after the prescribed Form EC8A has been signed and stamped by the presiding officer and party agents who are available at the polling unit.
“Provided that where the electronic transmission of results fails as a result of communication failure, the result contained in Form EC8A, signed by the presiding officer and/or countersigned by polling agents shall, in such a case, be the primary source for collation and declaration of results.”
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Senate sets up 12-member conference committee
At the end of plenary, the Senate adopted the Votes and Proceedings as amended, following a motion moved by Senator Diket Plang and seconded by Senator Seriake Dickson.
Akpabio thereafter, announced the constitution of a 12-member Conference Committee to harmonise the Senate version of the bill with that of the House of Representatives, urging members to conclude their work within one week to enable President Bola Tinubu assent to the bill this month.
“This is a matter of urgency. If you conclude within one week, the President should be able to sign the bill into law within the month,” Akpabio said.
Senator Simon Lalong will chair the committee. Other members include Senators Tahir Monguno, Niyi Adegbonmire, Adamu Aliero, Orji Uzor Kalu, Abba Moro, Asuquo Ekpenyong, Aminu Abbas, Tokunbo Abiru, Jubril Isah, Ipalibo Banigo, and Peter Nwaebonyi.