…Akpabio, Aide Say No Confusion over Real-Time Upload to IREV
By Yinka Giwa
The Senate has dismissed claims that it rejected electronic transmission of election results while considering the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill, insisting that lawmakers merely retained existing provisions that leave the mode of result transmission to the discretion of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The clarification followed widespread reports that the upper chamber voted against a proposed amendment to Clause 60, Subsection 3, of the bill, which sought to compel presiding officers to electronically upload polling unit results to the INEC Result Viewing (IREV) portal in real time after signing and stamping the prescribed result forms.
During a marathon plenary session that lasted about four and a half hours, the Senate considered the contentious clause from about 2pm until 6.26pm. At the end of the debate, lawmakers turned down the proposed amendment and opted to retain the current wording of the Electoral Act, which states that “the presiding officer shall transfer the results, including the total number of accredited voters and the results of the ballot, in a manner as prescribed by the Commission.”
The decision immediately triggered speculation online that the Senate had deliberately removed electronic transmission of results from the law.
Reacting to the reports, Senate President Godswill Akpabio described the interpretation as misleading and urged the public not to be confused.
“Distinguished colleagues, the social media is already awash with reports that the Senate has literally rejected electronic transmission of results. That is not true,” Akpabio said shortly after the bill was passed.
“What we did was to retain the electronic transmission which has been in the Act and was used in 2022. This Senate under my watch has not rejected the electronic transmission of results. It is in my interest as a participant in the next election for such to be done,” he added.
Akpabio said the retained provision already allows INEC to deploy electronic transmission and warned against portraying the Senate’s action as a rollback of electoral reforms.
“We have retained what was in the previous provision by way of amendment. That provision has made allowance for electronic transmission. So it is still there as part of our law. We cannot afford to be going backwards,” he said, assuring that the official votes and proceedings would be made available to anyone in doubt.
Backing the Senate President’s position, his Special Adviser on Media, Hon. Eseme Eyibo, said there was no ambiguity in the lawmakers’ decision.
“There’s no confusion. Methinks reading the appropriate clauses of the passed bill shall clear every doubt,” Eyibo told KTH Daily in an exclusive interview.
He maintained that the Senate’s action did not outlaw electronic transmission but preserved INEC’s authority to determine the most appropriate method for transmitting election results.
The issue of electronic transmission has remained one of the most contentious aspects of Nigeria’s electoral reforms since the 2023 general elections, with opposition parties and civil society organisations calling for clearer and more explicit legal backing to mandate real-time electronic uploads in order to boost transparency and public confidence.
Akpabio said his intervention was aimed at calming public anxiety and correcting what he described as deliberate or careless misrepresentation of the Senate’s action, as the National Assembly continues work on reforms ahead of future elections.