Electoral Act Amendment: Senate Okays E-Transmission of Results, Retains Manual Option

The Nigerian Senate has approved the electronic transmission of election results to the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) Result Viewing Portal (IReV), while also permitting manual collation as a fallback in cases where technology fails.

The decision was taken during an emergency plenary session on Tuesday February 10, following a reconsideration of a contentious clause in the Electoral Act Amendment Bill.

Under the revised provision, Presiding Officers at polling units are mandated to electronically transmit results to the IReV portal after voting, documentation, and proper endorsement of result sheets have been completed.

However, the upper chamber stopped short of making electronic transmission mandatory and rejected proposals that sought to compel real-time upload of results from polling units.

According to the amendment, where electronic transmission is disrupted due to network, communication, or other technical challenges, the manually completed result sheet—Form EC8A—will serve as the primary document for result collation and declaration.

Presiding over the session, Senate President Godswill Akpabio explained that the motion before the chamber was aimed at reversing an earlier Senate decision on Section 60(3) of the Electoral Act.

He read the amended clause to lawmakers, stating that results must first be documented, signed, and stamped on Form EC8A before being transmitted electronically to the IReV portal.

Akpabio further clarified that the law now formally recognises situations where electronic transmission may be impossible.

“Where electronic transmission fails as a result of communication or network challenges, and it becomes impossible to upload the results, the manually signed Form EC8A shall, in such circumstances, be the primary source for collation and declaration of results,” he said.

The Senate President also urged lawmakers who opposed the amendment to formally challenge it through proper parliamentary procedure rather than verbal dissent.

Despite the approval, the amendment has continued to generate debate among civil society organisations and opposition figures, many of whom argue that allowing manual results to override electronically transmitted data could undermine transparency and open the electoral process to manipulation, particularly in areas with weak network coverage.