The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has urged the National Assembly to reconsider and approve a proposed amendment to the Electoral Amendment Bill that would mandate the electronic transmission of election results from polling units.

The call followed the adoption of a report by NBA President Afam Osigwe, SAN, at the National Executive Council (NEC) meeting held in Maiduguri, Borno State.

The report expressed concern over the Senate’s recent rejection of an amendment to Clause 60, Subsection 3, which would have required presiding officers of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to transmit results in real time to the INEC Result Viewing (IREV) portal immediately after Form EC8A was duly signed, stamped, and countersigned by party agents.

The NEC noted that the current discretionary language in the Electoral Act—allowing presiding officers to “transfer the results … in a manner as prescribed by the Commission”—weakens the legal foundation for transparent, real-time reporting.

According to the council, the ambiguity leaves room for manipulation, misinterpretation, and post-election disputes.

In adopting Osigwe’s report, the NEC resolved that the National Assembly should urgently pass the proposed amendment to Clause 60(3) to clearly compel electronic transmission of results.

It emphasised that explicit statutory requirements, rather than discretionary wording, are essential to safeguard electoral transparency, protect the integrity of votes, and restore public confidence in Nigeria’s electoral process.

The NEC further highlighted that credible elections are central to a functioning democracy. Continued resistance to enforceable electronic transmission measures, the council said, undermines democratic accountability.

“Technology-backed transparency is no longer optional in a modern democracy,” the NEC stressed, calling on Nigeria to align its electoral framework with global best practices.

The council concluded by urging lawmakers to demonstrate legislative responsibility and statesmanship by supporting the amendment.

The NBA reaffirmed its commitment to ongoing engagement and advocacy to ensure that Nigeria’s electoral laws clearly reflect the will of the people as expressed at the ballot.

The President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, has clarified that the Senate did not reject the electronic transmission of election results but merely retained the provision as contained in the 2022 Electoral Act.

Akpabio made the clarification on Saturday in Abuja while speaking at a book launch on the burden of legislators in Nigeria.

He explained that electronic transmission of results remains permissible, but the phrase “real time” was removed from the provision.

Akpabio said, “All we said during discussion was that we should remove the word ‘real-time’ because if you say real-time, then there is a network or grid failure and the network is not working. 
When you go to court, somebody will say it ought to have been real-time. That was all we said.

He emphasised that the decision was taken to grant the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) the flexibility to determine the appropriate mode of result transmission, taking into account technological and security challenges.

The Senate President stressed that the upper chamber would continue to enact legislation that reflects the wishes of the Nigerian people.

Reacting to Akpabio’s position, former Senate President David Mark said the National Assembly should allow INEC to decide whether or not to transmit election results electronically.

He added that the African Democratic Congress (ADC) fully supports the electronic transmission of election results.

There has been an outrage after the Senate last week passed the Electoral Act 2022 (Repeal and Reenactment) Amendment Bill 2026 through the third reading.

In passing the bill, the upper chamber, however, did not approve the proposed amendment to Clause 60, Subsection 3, of the bill, which sought to make the electronic transmission of election results mandatory.

The rejected provision would have required presiding officers of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to electronically transmit results from each polling unit to the IREV portal in real time, after the prescribed Form EC&A had been signed and stamped by the presiding officer and countersigned by candidates.

Instead, the Senate adopted 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.”