EXCLUSIVE: How Nigeria’s Senate Leadership Overruled Majority, Blocked Mandatory Real-Time Results Transmission Amid ‘Vested Interests’

According to the sources, consensus in favour of real-time electronic transmission of results was reached at four key stages during the review of the Electoral Act Amendment Bill.

National Assembly sources have revealed that the electronic transmission of election results by presiding officers was agreed upon at multiple stages of legislative consideration before the Nigerian Senate ultimately rejected a proposed amendment that would have made the practice mandatory.

According to the sources, consensus in favour of real-time electronic transmission of results was reached at four key stages during the review of the Electoral Act Amendment Bill.

The first agreement was recorded during joint sessions of the House of Representatives and the Senate Committees on Electoral Matters, where lawmakers deliberated on reforms aimed at strengthening electoral transparency and credibility. At that stage, electronic transmission of results by presiding officers was endorsed as a safeguard against manipulation.

The second stage occurred at the level of an eight-member Senate Ad hoc Committee constituted to review the joint committee’s report and make recommendations to the Senate.

The committee comprised six members of the All Progressives Congress (APC), one member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and one member of the Labour Party (LP). Its members were identified by sources as Senators Mohammed Goje, Adeniyi Adegbonmire, Adams Oshiomhole, Titus Zam, Yahaya Abdullahi, Adamu Aliero, Aminu Tambuwal, and Tony Nwoye.

Sources said the committee extensively debated the proposal, upheld it, and formally recommended to the Senate that presiding officers be mandated to electronically transmit election results in real time.

“First, we had joint sessions of House of Reps and Senate Committee on Electoral matters. Then the Adhoc Committee looked at the report and the bill as proposed by the joint committee and made recommendations to the Senate. The Committee had eight members, comprising six APC members, one PDP member and one LP member,” a source said.

“This Committee debated, upheld and recommended to the Senate the electronic transmission of results on real time by presiding officers.”

The third endorsement came on Tuesday, when the Senate met in executive session to deliberate on the Ad hoc Committee’s recommendations.

A majority of senators reportedly approved the proposal, including the provision for real-time electronic transmission of results by presiding officers.

However, the situation changed on Wednesday, February 4, 2026, when the Senate convened as a Committee of the Whole to consider the Electoral Act Amendment Bill clause by clause.

Although there was sharp disagreement on the floor, sources said a majority of senators still supported mandatory electronic transmission of results.

Despite this, the proposal was defeated, allegedly due to opposition from a few members of the Senate leadership who were said to have vested interests contrary to the prevailing view of most lawmakers.

“On Wednesday, the Senate had sharp disagreements on the electronic transmission of results in real time, but the majority of Senators were in support of electronic transmission of results in real time, but it appears that the few persons in the Senate leadership have a vested interest that runs contrary to the opinion and interest of the majority of the Senators on the issue,” a National Assembly source said.

Consequently, the Senate voted against a proposed amendment to Clause 60, Subsection 3, of the Electoral Amendment Bill.

The amendment sought to remove the discretionary powers of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) regarding the mode of transmitting election results.

If adopted, the provision would have legally compelled INEC presiding officers to electronically transmit results from each polling unit directly to the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IREV) in real time, immediately after Form EC8A had been signed and stamped by the presiding officer and countersigned by party agents.

Instead, the Senate retained the existing provision of the Electoral Act, 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.”

By maintaining this clause, the Senate has effectively allowed INEC to continue exercising discretion over whether or not to deploy electronic transmission of results.

Critics argue that this loophole was exploited during the 2023 general elections, leading to allegations of result manipulation at collation centres.

The Senate’s decision has been met with shock and disappointment among many Nigerians and civil society organisations (CSOs), who had strongly advocated for the amendment as a crucial reform to curb manual interference with election results.

Political analysts who spoke to SaharaReporters described the Senate’s action as a “regressive step”, warning that it could undermine public confidence in future elections and pose a serious threat to Nigeria’s democratic process.

"We thought the National Assembly would learn from the failures of 2023 where the IREV portal became a source of national embarrassment," Gerald Ede stated. "By rejecting mandatory transmission, the Senate has essentially given a green light for the status quo of 'manual miracles' and result manipulation to continue."

The push for mandatory real-time transmission was seen as the "silver bullet" to restore voter confidence in the electoral process.

The rejection comes amid rising calls for electoral reforms that would minimize human interference.

Critics argue that leaving the "manner" of transmission to the discretion of the commission, which has a history of "technical glitches" during critical hours of result collation, is a recipe for continued electoral disputes and lack of legitimacy for elected officials.