The Senate yesterday rejected a proposed amendment to Clause 60, Subsection 3, of the Electoral Amendment Bill 2026, that sought to make the electronic transmission of election results from polling units compulsory.

This followed the clause by clause consideration and passage of the Electoral Act, 2022 (Repeal & Enactment) Bill, 2026.

The proposed amendment in 60(3) states that “The Commission shall electronically transmit the results from each polling unit to IREV portal in real time and such transmission shall be done simultaneously with the physical collation of results.”

The Senate adopted the existing provision of the Electoral Act, 2022 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 rejection followed an amendment made by Senator Tahir Monguno (Borno, APC) who proposed that the transmission aspect be removed while the original provision be retained.

Daily Trust reports that the House of Representatives had earlier during the passage of the electoral amendment bill approved clause 60 (3) which mandated result shall be electronically transmitted from the polling units to IREV portal.

Meanwhile, after the passage of the bill, Senate President Godswill Akpabio while reacting to the comments trailing the rejection of electronic transmission of results made a u-turn, stating that the Senate never rejected electronic transmission.

He said a conference committee of the Senate will be constituted with the House of Representatives to harmonise the differences and come up with a clean copy that will be transmitted for assent.

“We will set up the conference committee because definitely, I’m sure some of the provisions that we have elicited today will be different from what our colleagues passed and adjourned last week in the House of Representatives.

“But the social media already, is awash with the fact that the Senate has rejected electronic transmission. That is not true. That is not true.

“Electronic transmission has always been in our acts. And what we did was to retain the electronic transmission which was used in 2022. So please, do not allow people to confuse you.

“If you are in doubt, we will make our final votes and proceedings available to you if you apply and you are entitled so that you will see. This Senate under my watch has not rejected electronic transmission of results. It’s in my interest as a participant in the next election for such to be done. So please don’t go with the crowd.

“So if we rejected what was proposed by way of amendment and said let’s retain what was in the previous provision, the previous provision had made provision for electronic transmission. So it is still there as part of our laws. And I think we should be moving forward, not moving backwards.

“There is no way we can in this era of electronics, will now be going backwards. So it’s important to note that”, he said.

Daily Trust reports that contrary to the assertion by Akpabio that there was provision for electronic transmission in the 2022 electoral act, a check showed that there is no such provision.

The provision in the original act states: “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.”