Minority caucus: Senate approved e-transmission of election results

Opposition senators in the Senate yesterday insisted that what the lawmakers agreed upon during their retreats and in closed door sessions was the electronic transmission of election results in Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill, 2026.

The opposition senators led by Senator Eyinnaya Abaribe, during a briefing in Abuja yesterday said the clarification followed reports that the Senate rejected mandatory electronic transmission of results.

Other Senators present at the briefing are: Austin Akobundu (PDP – Abia Central) Peter Jiya (PDP – Niger South), Ireti Kingibe (ADC – FCT), Victor Umeh (LP – Anambra Central), Binos Yaroe (PDP – Adamawa South), Kabeeb Mustapha (PDP – Jigawa South West, Khalid Mustapha (PDP – Kaduna North), Mohammed Ogoshi Onawo (APC – Nasarawa South), Aminu Waziri Tambuwal (PDP – Sokoto South), Tony Nwoye (LP – Anambra North), Abdul Ningi (PDP – Bauchi Central), Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan (PDP – Kogi Central).

Daily Trust reports that during the consideration of the bill on Wednesday, the Senate rejected a proposed amendment to Clause 60, Subsection 3, of the Electoral Amendment Bill 2026 that sought to make the electronic transmission of election results from polling units compulsory.

The proposed amendment required presiding officers of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to transmit results electronically from each polling unit to the INEC Result Viewing (IREV) portal in real time, after the prescribed Form EC8A had been signed and stamped by the presiding officer and countersigned by party agents.

But 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 made by Senator Tahir Monguno (Borno, APC) who proposed that the transmission aspect be removed while the original provision be retained.

Shortly after the reports went viral, Senate President Godswill Akpabio dismissed the claims as misleading.

He maintained that Senate retained electronic transmission as provided under the 2022 Electoral Act.

“Electronic transmission has always been in our act. And what we did was to retain the electronic transmission which was used in 2022. So please, do not allow people to confuse you”, he said.

Speaking to journalists, Abaribe, said the minority caucus was compelled to address what he described as a widespread misunderstanding of Wednesday’s plenary proceedings.

He explained that at every stage on the engagements regarding the electoral bill, the position of lawmakers have been in support of electronic transmission of results.

“What we passed, and which the Senate President himself, when he was making clarification, confirmed that we passed was transmission of electronic results.

“And I need to make this very clear, every one of us who is a senator (and) who has the privilege to represent a senatorial district came here under the trust of their senatorial zones and each one of them holds a public trust.

“This trust has been handed to us by Nigerians to do the absolute best for Nigeria. And when it now appears that we have been misunderstood, that’s why we said we should come here,” he said.

The senator explained that there was a joint committee of members of the electoral committees in both chambers which worked on the electoral act amendment bill proposal.

“The joint committees had several retreats; everyone agreed at the end of the retreat that electronic transmission of results was the way to go.

“And that was reflected in the reports, both in the House and in Senate reports, and I think the senate president reiterated it yesterday.

“It was the report of that Senate ad hoc committee that we considered when we went into a closed session so that we can tidy up the report.

“And when we now came back to plenary to pass it, we passed it without any rancour.

“I can assure you, on the honour of all of us who are standing here, that both the electoral committee of the senate and ad hoc committee of the senate, and also in the executive session that we had, we all agreed on section 63(3), which is electronic transmission of votes.

“And electronic transmission of results was what we passed at plenary yesterday (Wednesday),” he said.

Abaribe also reiterated that a committee had been set up to harmonise the passed version of the senate and that of the House of Representatives.

“Harmonisation is what you use to make sure that you produce one single document which the president will now sign. So that is where we are at the moment,” he said.

The senator said that after the adjournment of plenary session on Wednesday, the Senate did not reconvene to approve the votes and proceedings of the plenary.

“One other thing, so that Nigerians can rest assured, is that after our plenary session yesterday (Wednesday), we adjourned but did not come back to pass the votes and proceedings,” he said.

This, he said, was because the document that would be taken to the harmonisation committee would be the one passed by the Senate and ratified by the votes and proceedings, adding: “There’s still one more step left by the Senate to take.

“What now happens in harmonisation is simple, you either adopt the House’s version or you adopt the Senate’s version, and of course Nigerians know what they want.”

According to him, it is the duty of Nigerians also to put pressure and ask questions from their representatives on what was passed.

Abaribe emphasised that majority of the senators across party lines were in support of the passage of real-time electronic transmission of results, “because this is not a party matter; this is a Nigerian matter”.

He stressed that the distinction between “transfer” and “transmission” had been wrongly interpreted, fuelling the impression that the Senate had taken Nigeria backwards on electoral reforms.

Making further clarification at the briefing, Senator Abdul Ningi (Bauchi Central) said the report that the Senate rejected electronic transmission of results was very painful.

“Our coming here today is to assure Nigerians that the Senate, at no time since September last year when the whole process for new electoral act for the 2027 general election started, jettison the need for legal provision for electronic transmission of election result by INEC.

“This negative trajectory against the Senate and by extension the National Assembly should stop . We shall ensure that section 60(3) of the 2026 Electoral Bill is what will be transmitted to the President for assent,” he said.

Daily Trust reports that condemnations have continued to trail the reported rejection of mandatory electronic transmission of results by the Senate.

The leading opposition parties including the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the Labour Party (LP), former Vice President and chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, Executive Director of Yiaga Africa, Samson Itodo, all, flayed the Senate over the action.

The Senate has come under pressure in recent times over its delay in passing the amendment to the 2022 Electoral Act, a development, stakeholders in electoral process, said, could affect the 2027 general elections.

Efforts to get reactions from the Senate spokesperson, Senator Yemi Adaramodu, proved abortive as calls put across to him and the subsequent text message to get reactions were not replied to as at the time of filing this report.

CSO raises concerns over Senate decisions

A civil society organisation, Kimpact Development Initiative (KDI), has raised concerns over key decisions taken by the Senate in the recently passed Electoral Act Amendment Bill, warning that some rejected provisions could undermine transparency and public confidence ahead of the 2027 general elections.

KDI, in a statement by its Executive Director, Bukola Idowu, condemned the rejection of mandatory electronic transmission of results.

“Notably, the decision not to make the electronic transmission of election results mandatory has generated significant public debate. For many citizens, civil society organisations, election observers, and youth groups, mandatory electronic transmission represents a straightforward and visible mechanism to reinforce trust in election outcomes. Instead, the Senate retained the transmission framework contained in the 2022 Electoral Act.

“The absence of clearer statutory obligations may continue to leave room for differing interpretations and operational discretion.  This development raises concerns about preparedness for credible elections in  2027.

“KDI notes that elections are not only legal exercises but also public-trust exercises.

Confidence in electoral outcomes is shaped not only by procedures, but by the visibility and predictability of those procedures to ordinary citizens.

“Strengthening transparency provisions is, therefore, not merely a technical adjustment; it is an investment in long-term democratic credibility”, KDI said in a statement yesterday.

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