Fresh Trouble Looms Over Electoral Bill

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has threatened mass action or total boycott of elections if the amendment of the Electoral Act 2022 does not mandate real-time electronic transmission and collation of election results.

The NLC, in a statement yesterday by its president, Joe Ajaero, titled ‘The Senate Must Come Clean Now: Electoral Integrity at Stake’, alleged that failure to clearly state whether electronic transmission of results would be mandatory undermines public trust in the electoral process. This is even as the Senate is reconvening plenary for an emergency sitting tomorrow following its recent rejection of a proposal to make real-time electronic transmission of election results mandatory. The NLC expressed concern over what it called confusion and contradictory narratives emerging from the Senate regarding the amendment to the Electoral Act, particularly on electronic transmission of results. “This lack of clarity undermines public trust and is deeply troubling for our democracy. The Nigerian people deserve a transparent electoral process where their votes are not only counted but seen to be counted. We urge the Senate to provide an immediate, official, and unambiguous account of its proceedings and final decisions,” it stated. According to the NLC, public records suggest the proposed amendment to mandate the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to transmit results electronically in real-time was not adopted, with the existing discretionary provision retained. “This has generated nationwide apprehension, and subsequent explanations have only added to the confusion. At a critical juncture following the 2023 elections, such legislative ambiguity risks institutionalising doubt at the heart of our electoral integrity and echoes past controversies that have caused national distress. “Therefore, the NLC demands immediate clarity and transparency. The Senate must issue a definitive statement on the exact provisions passed, clarifying the final wording and rationale. The National Assembly leadership must also ensure the harmonisation process produces a final bill with crystal-clear provisions; any ambiguity in the transmission and collation of results is a disservice to our democracy,” the labour union said. It called on the Senate to restore legislative credibility by ensuring its processes are transparent and its outcomes clear, demanding that the amended Act provide an unambiguous mandate for the INEC to electronically transmit and collate results from polling units in real-time. It warned that the path to the 2027 general elections must be built on certainty, not confusion. The NLC stated: “Nigerian workers and citizens are watching closely. The NLC is working within its networks to advocate for clarity and integrity. We will not stand by while the trusts of Nigerians are betrayed again and the clarity of our electoral laws compromised. “Failure to add electronic transmission real-time will lead to mass action before, during and after the election or total boycott of the election. Our nation must choose the path of clarity and integrity. “We need to avoid the same confusion that trailed the new Tax Acts. The time for honest, people-focused legislation is now. A people united, can never be defeated! Workers united, can never be defeated!” Senate President Godswill Akpabio, according to a statement yesterday by the Clerk of the Senate, Emmanuel Odo, directed the reconvening of plenary for an emergency sitting. The statement said all senators were requested to attend the sitting which would commence at 12 noon. Electoral Bill: NLC threatens mass action How the controversy came about During the consideration of the Electoral Act Amendment Bill 2026 on Wednesday, the Senate rejected a proposed amendment to Clause 60(3) which sought to make electronic transmission of results from polling units compulsory. The proposal required INEC’s presiding officers to transmit results electronically to the INEC Result Viewing (IREV) portal in real time after Form EC8A had been signed and stamped by the presiding officer and countersigned by party agents. However, the Senate adopted the existing provision of the Electoral Act, 2022, which 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.” The rejection followed an amendment moved by Senator Tahir Monguno (APC, Borno), who proposed retaining the original provision. “Mr President, I proposed that instead of using the word ‘transmission’, we should retain what is in the existing word, which is transfer,” Monguno had said. Following widespread outrage, Senate President Akpabio later described the claims that electronic transmission had been removed as misleading. “Electronic transmission has always been in our Act. What we did was to retain the electronic transmission which was used in 2022. So please, do not allow people to confuse you,” the Senate president had said. Opposition senators had earlier insisted that what lawmakers agreed upon during retreats and closed-door sessions was the electronic transmission of election results in the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill, 2026. The opposition senators, led by Senator Eyinnaya Abaribe, spoke during a press conference in Abuja on Thursday following reports that the Senate had rejected mandatory electronic transmission of results. Abaribe said the minority caucus was compelled to clarify what he described as a widespread misunderstanding of the Senate’s proceedings. He said lawmakers had consistently supported electronic transmission of results at every stage of engagement on the bill. “What we passed, and which the Senate President himself confirmed, was transmission of electronic results,” Abaribe stated. He said the distinction between “transfer” and “transmission” had been wrongly interpreted, creating the impression that the Senate had reversed electoral reforms. Why we rejected e-transmission of results – Akpabio On Saturday, Senate President Godswill Akpabio explained why the Senate deliberately removed the requirement for mandatory real-time electronic transmission of election results during the clause-by-clause consideration of the Electoral Act amendment bill. He said the decision was informed by concerns that enforcing real-time electronic transmission of election results could trigger legal disputes if network failures occur during elections. Akpabio spoke in Abuja during the launch of a book titled ‘The Burden of Legislators in Nigeria’, authored by a former senator, Effiong Bob. “All we said during discussion was that we should remove the word real-time. Because if you say real-time and the network or what I may call glitch failure, and then 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, but we left the burden to those who conduct elections. INEC will determine the mode of transfer or transmission of votes,” Akpabio said. He added, “If we make it mandatory that we must do it real-time, electronically, go and look at what happened in America between George Bush and Al Gore. By the time the votes came in, Al Gore had actually won the election. But what happened? George Bush was declared while the votes were still hanging during a trans…electronic vote. Even the best of countries are yet to get it right. That is the first war. But they are more civilized than us. “All institutions have the right to express themselves, thank God democracy is in existence. I must state clearly without ambiguity that there’s no fault or insinuation and no midst or misunderstanding. The Senate has acted and when we approve the votes you’ll see that the Senate has not removed anything. “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 to do anything, do so. If you have network in your area, go ahead with transmission.” “We’re yet to complete the process, so why are people setting up panels in all television studios and then abusing and then people have become mouth legislators? Go and contest election if you want to talk about lawmaking and go and join them and make the law. None of them have even been elected councillors yet but they are on the television abusing the senators, abusing members of the legislators; but I leave them to God,” he added. Don’t speak for INEC, Mark tells Senate president The national chairman of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and former president of the Senate, Senator David Mark, who chaired the book launch, cautioned Akpabio against speaking for the INEC. According to Mark, “What the ADC is saying is: pass the law and let INEC decide whether it can implement real-time electronic transmission or not. Don’t speak for INEC. “The position of the ADC is clear: pass the bill and let INEC decide what it will do with it. “What the public demands is electronic transmission. If INEC cannot do it, it’s their own problem and 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.” Activists plan ‘Occupy NASS’ protest A coalition of activists, under the aegis of the newly formed Movement for Credible Elections, in a statement on Saturday by is media coordinator, James Ezema, alleged that the rejection of real-time electronic transmission of election results was a ploy to facilitate electoral fraud ahead of the 2027 elections. In the coalition include Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana; Pat Utomi, former Minister of Education, Oby Ezekwesili; a former president of the NLC, Ayuba Wabba; Dr Usman Bugaje; Senator Shehu Sani; Ambassador Nkoyo Toyo and Olawale Okunniyi. The statement read: “The action of the lawmakers is considered by MCE as a direct assault by the National Assembly to subvert the right of Nigerians to freely choose the leaders of their choice. “By rejecting the mandatory transmission of election results from the polling units, the National Assembly has chosen opacity over transparency, manipulation over credibility and elite conspiracy over the sovereign will of the people.”