By Peace Udugba -The daily torch media
The Senate has approved the electronic transmission of election results to the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) Result Viewing Portal (IReV), while allowing manual collation as a fallback in cases of technological failure.
The decision followed the reconsideration of a contentious clause in the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill during an emergency plenary session held on Tuesday.
Under the revised provision, presiding officers at polling units are required to electronically transmit election results to the IReV portal after voting and documentation processes have been completed. However, the Senate stopped short of making electronic transmission mandatory and rejected the proposal for real-time upload of results.
The amendment provides that where electronic transmission is disrupted due to communication or network challenges, the manually completed result sheet, Form EC8A, shall serve as the primary document for collation and declaration of results.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio put the amendment to a voice vote and urged senators opposed to the provision to formally challenge it through a counter-motion.
“It’s very simple. If you disagree with him, move your counter motion. So, if you agree with him, you agree with me when I put the votes,” Akpabio said.
He explained that the motion before the chamber sought to reverse an earlier Senate decision on Section 60, Subsection 3 of the Electoral Act.
“When I ask for the votes, when I ask for your consent, let me read the motion. His earlier motion, which passed in our last sitting, he has sought to rescind that. That is in respect of Section 60, Subsection 3,” the Senate President stated.
Reading the amended clause, Akpabio said presiding officers must electronically transmit results from each polling unit to the IReV portal after Form EC8A has been signed and stamped by the presiding officer and, where available, countersigned by candidates or their polling agents.
He noted that the law now recognises situations where electronic transmission may be impossible.
“Provided that if the electronic transmission of the results fails as a result of communication failure — maybe network or otherwise — and it becomes impossible to transmit the results electronically, the Form EC8A shall in such a case be the primary source of collation and declaration of results,” Akpabio said.
The amendment has, however, drawn criticism from civil society organisations and opposition figures, who argue that allowing manual results to take precedence over electronically transmitted ones could undermine transparency and open the electoral process to manipulation, particularly in areas with poor network coverage.
