Electoral Act: Senate passes bill, rejects mandatory electronic transmission of results

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After pressure from the media and other stakeholders, the Senate, yesterday, passed the Electoral Act Amendment Bill but rejected electronic transmission of results, an item that some stakeholders consider critical for free and fair elections in 2027. The Senate passed the Electoral Act 2022 (Repeal and Re-enactment) Amendment Bill 2026 after the third reading. It rejected a proposed amendment to Clause 60, Subsection 3, of the bill, which sought to make the electronic transmission of election results mandatory. But Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, said in a swift reaction that the Senate retained transmission of results as provided in the 2022 Act.

The rejected provision would have required presiding officers of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to electronically transmit results from each polling unit to the IReV portal in real time, after the prescribed Form EC8A had been signed and stamped by the presiding officer and counter-signed by candidates’ agents.

Instead, the Senate adopted the existing provision 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.”

Rejects 10-year jail term for PVC traders

Earlier, the upper chamber rejected a proposed 10-year jail term for buyers and sellers of Permanent Voter Cards, PVCs, under Clause 22, opting instead to retain a two-year imprisonment term, while increasing the fine from N2 million to N5.

The decision was taken during consideration of Clause 22 of the Electoral Amendment Bill.

The lawmakers also amended Clause 28 on the notice of election, reducing the timeline from 360 days to 180 days.
The original provision required the commission to publish a notice of election in each state of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory not later than 360 days before the election date.