BREAKING: Senate Rejects Mandatory Electronic Transmission Of Election Results

The Senate on Wednesday rejected a proposed amendment to the Electoral Amendment Bill 2026 that sought to make the electronic transmission of election results from polling units compulsory.

The amendment, which targeted Clause 60, Subsection 3 of the bill, would have required presiding officers of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to transmit election results electronically from each polling unit to the INEC Result Viewing (IREV) portal in real time. This was to be done after Form EC8A had been duly signed and stamped by the presiding officer and countersigned by party agents.

Instead, 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 decision followed an amendment moved by Senator Tahir Monguno (APC, Borno), who proposed the removal of the clause mandating electronic transmission, while retaining the original wording of the law that leaves the mode of transmission to INEC’s discretion.
Details later.