The African Democratic Congress (ADC), alongside election observers and prominent public figures, has thrown its weight behind calls for mandatory electronic transmission of election results, urging the National Assembly to remove provisions that could weaken electoral credibility.
The party appealed to lawmakers to align the final amendment of the Electoral Act with the House of Representatives’ version, which mandates real-time electronic transmission of results. ADC also faulted the Senate’s amendment to Section 60(3) of the Electoral Act 2022, warning that it could undermine transparency and open the door to manipulation.
The Movement for Credible Elections (MCE), supported by civil society and labour leaders, described the Senate’s version as a major setback to years of electoral reforms. While acknowledging the approval of electronic transmission to the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV), MCE criticised the clause that allows manual collation where electronic transmission allegedly fails due to network issues.
According to MCE, permitting manual result sheets to serve as a fallback creates room for abuse, noting that claims of network failure are often difficult to verify and have historically been used to justify electoral malpractice.
Former Bayelsa State Governor, Senator Seriake Dickson, also cautioned the National Assembly’s conference committee to reject the Senate’s version entirely and adopt the House version to preserve public confidence in the electoral process. He warned that any deviation could further damage Nigeria’s fragile democracy.
Adding her voice, former World Bank Vice President, Dr Obiageli Ezekwesili, accused the Senate of attempting to undermine democracy. She insisted that Nigerians want a clear legal provision that mandates real-time electronic transmission of results from polling units without conditions.
Ezekwesili described the Senate’s proviso allowing manual collation in cases of failed transmission as a serious threat to transparency, stressing that such ambiguity could permanently erode trust in election outcomes.
