The Senate has rejected a proposal to make the electronic transmission of election results compulsory, but insists it has not removed electronic upload from Nigeria’s electoral law, clarifying that the existing Electoral Act already permits digital transmission at the discretion of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The controversy followed the Senate’s clause-by-clause consideration of the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill, during which lawmakers voted down an amendment to Clause 60(3) that sought to mandate presiding officers to electronically transmit polling unit results to INEC’s Result Viewing (IReV) portal in real time after signing and stamping Form EC8A.
Instead, the chamber retained the current wording in the Electoral Act, which provides 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.”
