BREAKING: Senate Bows To Public Pressure, Retains Electronic Transmission Of Election Results With Manual Backup

Abuja, Nigeria —Nigeria’s Senate has bowed to mounting public pressure and reversed aspects of its earlier position on the Electoral Act Amendment Bill, retaining electronic transmission of election results while allowing manual collation only as a fallback in the event of technical failure.

The upper legislative chamber amended the votes and proceedings of its plenary sitting last week Wednesday, February 4, over its resolution on Section 60(3) of the Electoral Act Amendment Bill, which deals with the transmission of results from polling units.

The amendment followed a motion moved by the Senate Chief Whip, Senator Mohammed Tahir Monguno, and subsequently endorsed by the chamber.

The motion clarified that election results shall be transmitted electronically from polling units, in line with growing demands by Nigerians and civil society groups for transparency in the electoral process.

However, the Senate resolved that where a communication glitch or technical failure prevents successful electronic transmission, the manually completed Form EC8 would serve as the primary source of collation.

The form must be duly filled, stamped, and signed by the presiding election officer and countersigned by party agents at the polling unit.

Following the adoption of the motion, Minority Leader Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe moved a counter-motion calling for a division—individual voting—on the contentious Section 60(3). Tension briefly rose in the chamber as the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, asked Abaribe to proceed with the motion.

Abaribe, however, later withdrew the request for a division, allowing the amended resolution to stand.

The Senate’s latest move is widely seen as a response to intense criticism and pressure from the public, opposition parties, and election observers, who had warned that weakening electronic transmission could undermine the credibility of future elections.