Politics
Senate Passes Electoral Act Amendment Bill, Retains E-Transmission, Rejects Real-Time Upload of Results
The Senate on Wednesday passed the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill, 2026, after hours of intense deliberations, clarifying that it did not reject electronic transmission of election results but only turned down a proposal seeking mandatory real-time upload of polling unit results.
The controversy centred on Clause 60 of the bill, which governs the transmission of election results. Lawmakers voted to retain the existing provision in the 2022 Electoral Act, allowing the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to determine the mode of electronic transmission, rather than compelling presiding officers to upload results to the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal in real time.
Under the retained clause, presiding officers are required to record votes scored by each candidate on INEC-prescribed forms after counting at the polling unit. The forms must be signed, stamped, and countersigned by party agents where available, before results are announced at the polling unit and transmitted electronically in a manner determined by INEC.
Any presiding officer who wilfully violates the provision risks a fine of up to ₦500,000 or a minimum of six months’ imprisonment upon conviction.
The Senate rejected the proposed amendment that would have expressly mandated real-time electronic transmission of results to IReV after the signing of Form EC8A. Opponents of the proposal argued that the phrase “real time” was vague, impractical in areas with poor network coverage, and could expose the electoral process to unnecessary litigation.
Akpabio: Senate Did Not Reject Electronic Transmission
Amid widespread speculation on social media, Senate President Godswill Akpabio firmly dismissed claims that lawmakers voted against electronic transmission of results.
“That is not true,” Akpabio said. “What we did was to retain the electronic transmission that existed in the 2022 Act. Retaining that provision means electronic transmission remains part of our law. Under my watch, the Senate has not rejected electronic transmission of election results.”
He added that the Senate was “moving forward, not backwards,” stressing that the existing law already allows electronic transmission and was applied during the 2022 elections.
Chairman of the Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Senator Adeyemi Adaramodu, echoed Akpabio’s position, noting that the disagreement was about wording rather than substance.
“Results must be transmitted electronically and made available to the public,” Adaramodu said. “At the same time, physical forms like EC8A will remain evidence. We now have correlating evidence electronic transmission and physical documents.”
He warned against what he described as over-legalising the process with ambiguous terms such as “real time,” arguing that network challenges in remote areas could undermine elections.
Major Changes to Electoral Timelines
Beyond result transmission, the Senate approved sweeping reforms to Nigeria’s electoral calendar. Lawmakers reduced the election notice period from 360 days to 180 days before the expiration of an administration’s tenure.
Political parties are now required to submit their list of candidates not later than 90 days before a general election, while deadlines for nominations were also cut to 90 days.
On voter accreditation, the Senate formally replaced the smart card reader with the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), while retaining the Permanent Voter Card (PVC) as the sole means of voter identification. A proposal to allow alternative voter IDs, including downloadable QR-coded cards, was rejected.
Stricter Penalties, No Political Ban
Lawmakers increased penalties for electoral offences, raising the fine for unlawful possession of voters’ cards from ₦500,000 to ₦5 million. However, the Senate rejected a proposal to impose a 10-year ban on individuals convicted of vote buying and similar offences.
Senator Asuquo Ekpeyong, supported by Akpabio and the Deputy Senate President, argued that while stiffer fines and prison terms were appropriate, a decade-long political ban was excessive.
Rerun Elections for Disqualified Candidates
One of the most far-reaching amendments relates to post-election disputes. Under the new provision, political parties will no longer be allowed to replace candidates disqualified after elections.
Instead, where a returned candidate is found not to have won the majority of valid votes, a rerun election will be conducted, excluding both the disqualified candidate and the sponsoring party.
Adaramodu said the amendment would reduce pre-election litigation and promote democratic fairness.
Next Steps
Akpabio announced the formation of a conference committee chaired by Senator Simon Lalong to harmonise the Senate and House of Representatives versions of the bill. The committee has been mandated to conclude its work within the month to enable transmission of a harmonised bill to the President for assent.
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