BREAKING: Senate adopts electronic, manual transmission of results
Senate Amends Electoral Act to Facilitate Electronic Transmission of Results
The Senate enacted an amendment to Section 60 of the Electoral Act on Tuesday, allowing presiding officers at polling units to electronically transmit election results to the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) Results Viewing Portal (IREV).
This change was adopted during an emergency plenary session, where Senate President Godswill Akpabio provided details regarding the new protocol.
“The presiding officer shall electronically transmit the results from each polling unit to the IREV portal after Form EC8A has been signed and stamped by the presiding officer, and/or countersigned by the candidates or polling agents where available at the polling units,” he noted.
Akpabio also addressed contingency plans in the event of network issues. “If the electronic transmission of results fails due to communication failure, the manually signed and stamped Form EC8A shall serve as the primary source for collation and declaration of results,” he added.
The amendment, designated as Clause 60(3), arose from a motion by Senate Chief Whip Mohammed Monguno, who aimed to overturn the Senate’s previous rejection of real-time electronic transmission. Previously, the Senate had maintained provisions in the 2023 Electoral Act that restricted electronic transmission.
Under the new rules, presiding officers are authorized to transmit results electronically when technology permits, while the signed Form EC8A remains the authoritative source in cases of technical failure.
The amendment generated considerable discussion among senators. Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe initially called for a division on the issue but later retracted his request.
