The Nigeria senate has approved the electronic transmission of election results to the Independent National Electoral Commission’s result viewing portal (IReV) but amended Clause 60(3) of the Electoral Act , to also manual collation to serve as a fallback arrangement where technology fails, there is network failure.
The decision followed a reconsideration of a controversial provision in the Electoral Act Amendment Bill during Tuesday’s plenary.
The amended clause now permits presiding officers to transmit results electronically after completing Form EC8A, with manual results serving as a backup, where network service providers fail to provide signal or encounter connectivity and other technical issues, in affected areas.
This amendment will certainly come as a huge disappoinment to nationwide agitation demanding for mandatory, real time electronic transfer of election results simultaneously with the completion of collation and entry into the Form EC8A.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio clarified that electronic transmission remains permissible under the law, but the removal of “real-time” requirement aims to address infrastructure challenges and preserve INEC’s operational flexibility.
The amended bill will now proceed to a conference committee for harmonization with the House of Representatives’ version.