By Muhammed Abubakar, Reporting
AFTER a 48-hour closed-door session, the Senate has passed the Electoral Act Amendment Bill, opting to retain the manual transmission of election results from polling units and rejecting proposals for compulsory electronic transmission to the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) Result Viewing Portal (IREV) for the 2027 general elections.
In a marathon debate on amendments to the Electoral Act 2022, the Red Chamber upheld Clause 60(3) of the existing law, which provides for the manual distribution of result forms rather than real-time electronic upload from polling units.
The decision has dampened expectations among opposition parties, civil society organisations and other electoral stakeholders who had advocated mandatory electronic transmission of results to enhance transparency in the 2027 polls.
Last week, the House of Representatives, in its own version of the amendment, recommended electronic transmission. Section 60(3) of the House version states that presiding officers “shall electronically transmit the results from each polling unit to the IREV portal in real time” after the completion and signing of Form EC8A.
By contrast, the Senate-adopted version provides that “the Presiding Officer shall give to the polling agents and the police officer, where available, a copy each of the completed forms after they have been duly signed” in line with existing provisions.
Clarifying the Senate’s position, Senate President Godswill Akpabio said the lawmakers did not reject electronic transmission outright but merely retained the provisions of the 2022 Act, which makes no explicit provision for mandatory electronic transfer of results.
He dismissed claims that the Senate was deliberately delaying the passage of the amendment, insisting that lawmakers were committed to strengthening the legal framework to ensure free, fair and credible elections in 2027.
Beyond result transmission, the Senate adopted several other key amendments.
It resolved that courts should no longer declare a runner-up as the winner of an election where the disqualified winner is removed and the runner-up scored less than 20 per cent of total votes cast.
In such cases, the courts would be required to order a re-run excluding the disqualified candidate and the political party that fielded them—particularly in instances involving forged certificates submitted during nomination.
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The Senate also approved a significant increase in penalties for electoral offences, raising fines from N500,000 to N5 million, with an additional two-year jail term upon conviction.
In a bid to streamline the electoral calendar, lawmakers reduced the period within which INEC must commence preparations for elections from 360 days before the end of an elected official’s tenure to 180 days.
The use of the Permanent Voter Card (PVC) and the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) was retained as the sole means of voter identification and accreditation.
Following deliberations that lasted until 7:04 p.m., the Senate constituted a Conference Committee to harmonise its version of the amendment with that passed by the House of Representatives.
The committee is chaired by Senator Simon Lalong, Chairman of the Senate Committee on INEC and Electoral Matters, with Senators Adamu Aliero, Orji Uzor Kalu, Abba Moro, Asuquo Ekpenyong, Aminu Abbas, Tokunbo Abiru and Adeniyi Adegbonmire as members.
The committee is expected to conclude its assignment within two weeks.
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