Senate Defends Discretionary E-Transmission Clause as Igini Warns Lawmakers Risk 2027 Defeat
The Senate of Nigeria has defended its controversial decision to make electronic transmission of election results discretionary rather than mandatory in the proposed Electoral Bill 2026, insisting the move was guided by empirical data and Nigeria’s infrastructural realities.
However, former Resident Electoral Commissioner, Mike Igini, has warned members of the 10th National Assembly that weakening real-time e-transmission safeguards could cost many of them their seats in the 2027 general election.
Clarifying the position of the upper chamber, Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele said the amendment to Clause 60(3) of the Electoral Bill followed extensive consultations and careful analysis of official statistics—not political pressure.
Originally, Clause 60(3) stipulated that presiding officers “shall electronically transmit the results from each polling unit to INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV) in real time.
But the Senate revised the clause, removing the mandatory “real time” requirement and introducing a proviso that in the event of internet failure, Form EC8A would serve as the primary means of collation.
Bamidele explained that while electronic transmission remains desirable, lawmakers had to consider infrastructural limitations before enacting binding legal provisions.
Citing data from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), he noted that broadband coverage stood at about 70 percent in 2025, while internet penetration was only 44.53 percent of the population.
In a statement titled “Proviso to Real-Time Transmission of Polling Unit Results: Why a Majority of Legislators May Not Return in 2027,” Igini urged lawmakers to delete the Senate’s newly introduced caveat and restore the original provision mandating real-time uploads to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Result Viewing Portal.
Beyond technical arguments, Igini delivered a blunt political message: legislators who dilute electoral transparency may be engineering their own defeat.
He reminded the 10th Assembly that previous National Assemblies failed to close loopholes in the electoral framework—loopholes that were later exploited against many of their members.
According to him, numerous lawmakers who lost party tickets and defected to other platforms were defeated not due to weak grassroots support, but because results were allegedly manipulated during collation at ward and local government levels.
Igini argued that the absence of mandatory real-time transmission creates room for alterations outside public scrutiny, particularly at collation centres.
The debate over Clause 60(3) has become one of the most contentious aspects of the Electoral Bill 2026, with transparency advocates insisting that mandatory real-time transmission is crucial to safeguarding electoral integrity.
As the amendment process continues, the outcome could significantly shape public confidence in Nigeria’s electoral system—and potentially determine the political fortunes of current lawmakers in 2027. Read More
