The Nigerian Senate has passed an amendment to the Electoral Act permitting the electronic transmission of election results to the Independent National Electoral Commission’s results portal, though manual collation will remain as a legal fallback.
The decision, taken during Tuesday’s plenary, modifies a contentious provision in the Electoral Act Amendment Bill. The motion for reconsideration was sponsored by Senator Tahir Monguno of Borno North, who argued that Clause 60(3) required adjustment to prevent future electoral disputes and operational failures.
Under the approved amendment, presiding officers at polling units are allowed to electronically transmit results to the IReV portal after completing, signing, and stamping the official result sheet (Form EC8A).
However, the provision does not mandate electronic transmission outright, nor does it require results to be uploaded in real-time.
Critically, the amendment establishes a failsafe: if electronic transmission fails due to network or communication challenges, the manually completed EC8A form will serve as the primary document for collating and declaring results.
