By Vincent Egunyanga and Nathaniel Zaccheaus, Abuja
Fresh controversy has trailed the electronic transmission of election results as the National Assembly moves to harmonise amendments to the Electoral Act, with former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Maurice Iwu, declaring that Nigeria has the capacity to transmit results in real time.
Iwu said the country had developed and tested the framework for electronic voting and transmission years ago, insisting that the technology required to deliver credible, real-time results is already available.
“The use of technology for elections is very possible,” Iwu told ThisNigeria. “We started this idea over 20 years ago, and, unfortunately, we are still debating it.”
But the Senate, in a statement by the Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, on Sunday, justified its decision to delete the mandatory “real-time” electronic transmission of polling unit results from the Electoral Bill 2026, citing Nigeria’s fragile electricity supply and limited broadband coverage as major constraints.
However, Iwu said electronic voting machines were introduced during the 2007 general election and produced locally by the Defence Industries Corporation in Kaduna.
“For the 2007 election, two centres were created, one in Abeokuta and the other in Jigawa, in case the one in Abuja developed problems,” he said. “The data can be transmitted from anywhere.”
According to him, INEC had hubs in all 774 local government areas at the time to facilitate data transmission.
“It is easier now to transmit data,” he said, adding that encrypted applications such as “BI CDMA” could prevent hacking. “You can’t hack it. It is used mainly by the military and is encrypted like WhatsApp.”
Iwu criticised what he described as a lack of sustained commitment to technology in the electoral process, arguing that Nigeria would have perfected real-time transmission if the initiative had been consistently pursued.
In a similar submission, former Deputy Director of Public Affairs at INEC, Victor Agbonwaneten, said real-time electronic transmission of results is achievable.
“The 2023 elections recorded 93 per cent success in electronic transmission of results,” he said. “Unfortunately, there was no effort to improve on what we had in 2023.”
Agbonwaneten, who also served as Head of Operations at INEC’s Bayelsa office, stated that technological safeguards are in place to prevent hacking.
“There are technological applications to prevent hacking, which even embassies use,” he said, adding that “any serious political party can upload from their party agents without going through iREV.”
However, former President of the Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO), Abdul Oroh, warned that while electronic transmission is desirable, it could pose serious risks if not properly secured.
“I have no problem with electronic transmission of results if there is a way to protect the results from hacking or glitches,” Oroh said. “But if the technology is hacked and it results in parallel results, it could lead to unimaginable conflict in the country.”
He stressed the need to guarantee “transparency, credibility and integrity of the process.”
Oroh also decried the lack of accountability for electoral offences during the 2023 general election.
“There were 31 electoral offences in the 2023 general election, but no one was prosecuted,” he said, adding that “about 18 polling units were destroyed, police stations were burnt down, and many electoral officers were killed.”
According to him, “the greatest threats to our electoral system are the lack of political culture,” urging political parties and civil society groups to mobilise citizens to participate in the electoral process.
Meanwhile, the Joint National Assembly Conference Committee set up to reconcile differences in the Electoral Amendment Bill is expected to conclude its work this week before transmitting a harmonised version to President Bola Tinubu for assent.
The amendment process follows controversies that trailed the 2023 general election, particularly INEC’s failure to upload presidential election results to its Result Viewing Portal in real time — an issue that continues to shape debate over the deployment of technology in Nigeria’s electoral system.
*Empirical data guided our decision on electoral bill, Senate defends resolution
In the meantime, the Leader of the Senate, Opeyemi Bamidele, said the amendment was the product of wide consultations and a careful review of infrastructure realities, insisting that imposing a strict real-time obligation could expose the electoral process to avoidable disruptions and unrest.
In a statement issued in Abuja on Sunday, Bamidele addressed growing public concerns over the Senate’s alteration of Clause 60(3) of the bill, which had proposed that presiding officers “electronically transmit the results from each polling unit to the IReV portal in real time” after completing Form EC8A.
The Senate, however, resolved to delete the phrase “real time” while retaining electronic transmission of results, leaving the timing to the discretion of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
According to Bamidele, the decision followed what he described as an “inquisition into the other side of the clause” amid heightened public interest ahead of the 2027 general election.
“I have been inundated with messages from concerned and respected stakeholders seeking clarification on why the Senate retained Section 60(3 & 5) of the Electoral Act 2022,” he said.
“We recognise the strength of the clause and its potential to deepen trust. But lawmaking must respond to reality, not sentiment.”
He explained that Section 62(2) of the Electoral Act 2022 already provides for the transfer of election results to the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV) through the National Electronic Register of Election Results, arguing that introducing a rigid real-time requirement without full electronic voting would be redundant and potentially destabilising.
Bamidele clarified that electronic transmission is distinct from electronic voting. While the former involves manually uploaded results from the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) after declaration at polling units, the latter entails digital casting and counting of ballots, a stage Nigeria has yet to attain.
“As of today, we are not yet at the stage of electronic voting considering the state of our digital infrastructure,” he said.
The Senate’s position was also influenced by what lawmakers described as glaring weaknesses in the country’s power sector. Citing official data presented during deliberations, Bamidele noted that about 85 million Nigerians, roughly 43 per cent of the population, lack access to grid electricity.
Although generation capacity ranges from 12,000 to 13,500 megawatts, distribution constraints limit actual delivery to about 4,500 megawatts nationwide, he said.
“With this state of our power sector, can we make electronic transmission mandatory in real time?” Bamidele queried.
“It does not seem practicable by global standards. Any delay, failure or hitch in real-time delivery can breed public suspicion, and public suspicion can trigger unrest.
Beyond electricity, the Senate also examined broadband penetration and internet reliability before arriving at its decision.
“Data from the Nigerian Communications Commission showed that broadband coverage reached about 70 per cent in 2025, leaving 30 per cent of the federation without reliable internet access. Internet penetration, he added, stands at approximately 44.53 per cent of the population.
Lawmakers expressed concern that enforcing a strict real-time transmission requirement in areas with weak connectivity could result in uneven compliance, technical breakdowns and potential legal disputes.
Comparative statistics from the Speedtest Global Index also shaped deliberations. In 2025, Nigeria ranked 85th out of 105 countries in mobile network reliability, recording average speeds of 44.14 megabits per second. In fixed broadband speed, the country ranked 129th out of 150 countries, with a speed of 33.32 megabits per second.
“These empirical realities guided our decision. We cannot enact laws that the system cannot sustain. That would amount to scripting an avoidable crisis,” Bamidele said.
He maintained that deleting “real time” does not abolish electronic transmission of results but rather preserves flexibility for INEC to upload results to the IReV portal without being constrained by an inflexible statutory timeline.
The amendment comes at a politically sensitive time as preparations for the 2027 elections begin in earnest.
Critics have argued that removing the real-time requirement could weaken transparency safeguards introduced in the 2022 Electoral Act; however, the Senate insists that the reform strengthens the legal framework by aligning expectations with existing infrastructure.
Bamidele also referenced ongoing reforms in the power sector, including constitutional amendments that moved electricity from the Exclusive to the Concurrent Legislative List, enabling states to legislate and invest in electricity generation and distribution.
He added that the Electricity Act 2025 was amended to accelerate decentralisation and attract private investment.
“These reforms will, in the future, support seamless electronic voting and real-time transmission,” he said.
“But until we reach that stage, prudence demands flexibility.”
He stressed that democracy thrives on credible laws grounded in feasibility.
“If our law does not capture the realities of the federation, then it becomes a script for instability,” he said.
“We re-crafted Clause 60(3 & 5) with a caveat to protect national peace and security.”
With the deletion of the “real-time” clause, the Electoral Bill now moves to harmonisation between the Senate and the House of Representatives, setting the stage for further legislative debate as the country navigates the delicate balance between technological ambition and infrastructural limitations in safeguarding electoral integrity.
