The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has called on the National Assembly to revisit the Senate’s stance on the Electoral Act Amendment Bill 2026 and include a provision mandating the electronic transmission of election results from polling units.
In a statement released on Saturday, the NBA said its National Executive Council (NEC) adopted this position after considering a report presented by NBA President Afam Osigwe during its February 5 meeting in Maiduguri, Borno State.
“The council resolved that the National Assembly must urgently revisit clause 60(3) and pass the proposed amendment to expressly mandate electronic transmission of results from polling units,” the NBA stated, emphasizing that a statutory requirement is crucial to safeguard the integrity of votes and restore public confidence.
The Senate, during the third reading of the bill, opted to retain the provision for electronic transfer of election results as contained in the Electoral Act 2022, rejecting proposals for real-time results transmission and a 10-year ban on vote buyers.
Current sanctions remain fines or jail terms.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio defended the decision, noting that removing the term “real-time” allows the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) flexibility in the mode of transmission.
“If you make it mandatory and the system fails, there will be a catastrophe. Technology must save and not endanger democracy. You put real time in law when you don’t even have electricity in your community,” Akpabio explained.
He added that the amendment process is ongoing, with a conference committee reviewing votes and proceedings before final passage. “We will not be intimidated. We will do what is right for Nigeria and not that of one NGO,” he said.
Civil Society Ioins the Call
The newly launched Movement for Credible Elections (MCE), comprising notable activists including Dr. Usman Bugaje, Prof. Pat Utomi, Dr. Oby Ezekwesili, Mr. Femi Falana, SAN, and Comrade Ene Obi, condemned the Senate’s decision, describing it as a deliberate attempt to subvert Nigerians’ right to freely choose leaders.
“By rejecting the mandatory transmission of results from the polling units and other critical clauses, the National Assembly has chosen opacity over transparency, manipulation over credibility, and elite conspiracy over the sovereign will of the people,” the MCE said in a statement.
The group stressed that electronic results transmission is a minimum safeguard against tampering, ballot rewriting, and post-election fraud, and warned that failure to enforce it could heighten voter apathy and undermine public trust in elections.
MCE called on Nigerians to mobilize for peaceful civic action, including the Occupy NASS mass protest in Abuja on February 9, to demand transparent elections and resist any rollback of electronic results transmission.
The NBA also emphasized that technology-driven transparency is no longer optional in modern democracies and urged lawmakers to align Nigeria’s electoral framework with global best practices.
“Continued resistance to enforceable electronic transmission provisions undermines democratic accountability,” the association warned.
Clause 60(3) of the Electoral Act Amendment Bill governs the transmission of results from polling units. Civil society groups, political actors, and many Nigerians have advocated for real-time electronic transmission directly to INEC’s Result Viewing (IReV) portal to reduce manipulation and strengthen transparency ahead of the 2027 elections.
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