Senate President Godswill Akpabio has stated that the red chamber did not reject e-transmission of election results but retained the provision as contained in the Electoral Act 2022.
BACKGROUND
Recall that while considering the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill 2026, the Senate on February 4 rejected a proposal to require real-time e-transmission of results.
However, the upper chamber upheld the 2022 law’s current provision for the electronic transfer of results.
The proposed amendment aimed to link the results directly to the Independent National Electoral Commission’s result viewing webpage (IReV) and require real-time electronic transmission of the results.
The primary method is still manual collation, as INEC is not legally compelled to submit results electronically in real time under the current law.
The senate’s decision has since sparked public backlash and renewed concerns over the credibility of the electoral process.
‘SENATE HAS NOT REMOVED ANY MEANS OF TRANSMISSION’
Speaking in Abuja at the unveiling of a book titled “The Burden of Legislators in Nigeria” by Effiong Bob, a former senator, the senate president stated that e-transmission remains permissible under the law.
Akpabio said the only adjustment made was the removal of the phrase “real time” from the provision.
“I must state clearly, without ambiguity, that the senate has not removed any means of transmission,” he said.
“If you want to use a bicycle to carry your votes from one polling unit to the ward centre, do so. If you want to use your phone to transmit, do so. If you want to use your iPad, do so.
“All we said during the discussion was that we should remove the word ‘real-time’ because if you say ‘real-time, then there is a network or grid failure, and the network is not working.
“When you go to court, somebody will say it ought to have been real-time. That was all we said.
According to Akpabio, the decision was made to provide INEC the latitude to choose the best method of transmitting results in light of security and technological realities.
The senate will keep passing legislation that represent the interests and desires of Nigerians, he continued.
‘LET INEC DECIDE’
Following this, David Mark, the national chairman of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and a former senator, responded to the explanation by saying that the national legislature need to let INEC choose whether or not it can execute E-transmission of election results.
“Let INEC decide whether they can do it (real-time electronic transmission) or not. Don’t speak for INEC,” Mark said.
“What the public demands is electronic transmission. If INEC cannot do it, it’s their own problem, and it’s not for you to speak for INEC. It’s as simple as that, but that is just a by-the-way issue; it’s not a serious issue.”
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