JUST IN: Senate rejects mandatory electronic result upload

The Senate rejects a Mandatory Electronic Result Upload rule, retaining INEC’s discretion on how polling unit results are transmitted

The Nigerian Senate on Wednesday rejected a proposed amendment to Clause 60, Subsection 3, of the Electoral Amendment Bill that sought to make the electronic transmission of election results compulsory.

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The rejected provision would have required presiding officers of the Independent National Electoral Commission to upload results from each polling unit to the IREV portal in real time, immediately after completing Form EC8A, which must be signed and stamped by the presiding officer and countersigned by party agents.

Instead, lawmakers voted to retain the current wording 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.”

The decision preserves the commission’s discretionary authority to determine how election results are transmitted from polling units, rather than binding the process to a compulsory electronic method.

The debate around the Mandatory Electronic Result Upload had generated significant public interest, with advocates arguing that real time digital transmission would enhance transparency, credibility and public trust in electoral outcomes.

However, senators opted to uphold the existing legal framework, leaving the operational procedure for result transmission to the regulatory guidelines of the electoral body.

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The development marks a pivotal moment in ongoing legislative discussions on electoral reforms ahead of future general elections.

Quadri Olaitan