Senate Defends Move to Recognise Electronic Transmission of Results

The Senate has defended its decision to amend the Electoral Act to formally recognise electronic transmission of election results, following criticism over its earlier stance.

Lawmakers had initially rejected compulsory electronic transmission of results from polling units to the Independent National Electoral Commission’s Result Viewing (IREV) portal, a move that sparked public backlash. The Senate later reversed its position but retained a clause permitting manual collation in areas with poor internet connectivity — a provision critics argue could be exploited.

Senator Onyekachi Nwaebonyi maintained that the 10th Senate should be praised, not criticised, for what he described as a landmark decision.

“Before now, Section 60(3) of the 2022 Electoral Act did not expressly provide for electronic transmission of results to IREV. It was not part of the law,” he said.

According to the Ebonyi lawmaker, the latest amendment explicitly introduces electronic transmission of results from polling units to IREV, giving the portal statutory recognition.

“IREV used to be just a viewing portal. But what we did has now authenticated it as a legal reference point,” he stated, describing the development as unprecedented in Nigeria’s electoral history.

Nwaebonyi argued that the provision allowing manual collation was necessary due to infrastructural limitations in parts of the country.

“You will agree with me that in some areas, including my village during the last election, there was no network coverage. You cannot transmit results in real time under such conditions,” he explained.

He said lawmakers considered the implications of excluding results from areas with connectivity challenges, warning that doing so could disenfranchise voters.

“Should those results be discarded simply because they were not uploaded immediately? That is why we included the proviso,” he added.

The senator dismissed widespread criticism of the amendment, claiming that most Nigerians support the Senate’s decision, while attributing opposition to a small group of political actors.