By Nick Dazang
Following outrage at its rejection of electronic transmission of results from polling units to the INEC Results Viewing Portal, IReV, real time, on Wednesday, February 4, 2026, the Senate convened an emergency session on Tuesday, February 10, 2026.
But rather than to restore real time transmission of polling units results, and thus align itself with popular clamour and the bill already passed by the House of Representatives, namely that:
“The Presiding Officer shall electronically transmit the results from each polling unit to the IReV Portal real time and such transmission shall be done after the prescribed Form EC8A has been signed and stamped by the Presiding Officer and/ or countersigned by the candidates or polling agents where available at the polling unit”, the Senate pussy- footed and made a mess of the 2026 Electoral Amendment Bill.
It not only expunged “real time upload of results” from clause 60(3), it provided a clumsy caveat to the bill. The Senate’s whimsical adjustment reads thusly: “…That results shall be transmitted electronically from each polling unit to IReV.
“And such transmission shall be done after the prescribed EC8A has been signed and stamped by the Presiding Officer and party agents who are available at the polling unit.
“Provided that if the electronic transmission of result fails as a result of communication failure, the result contained in Form EC8A signed by the Presiding Officer and/ countersigned by the polling agents, shall, in such a case, be the primary source of collation and declaration of results.”
By its long and winding adjustment, the Senate visited more ambiguity and confusion where clarity and precision were needed to make the bill watertight.
Whereas, at first blush, the Senate appears to be providing a backup and paper trail, on closer scrutiny, it is taking us back to manual collation, which is susceptible to manipulation, and from which hold, we intend to liberate ourselves. The adjustment, which is dilatory, also cleverly seeks to create room for manoeuvre for those who may wish to take advantage of, or subvert our elections. Pray, how could the Commission be transmitting the results electronically and collating them manually at the same time?
If what all Nigerians are demanding is electronic transmission of results, real time, and the distinguished Senators are the true representatives of these Nigerians, why are they averse to bowing to their wishes, especially when they are not proffering compelling or superior arguments?
But anyone who has avidly followed the Commission’s sundry attempts to introduce technology to our elections with a view to adding more transparency to them, and the designs of politicians to torpedo them, should hardly be surprised.
The introduction of the Permanent Voter Card, PVC, and the Smart Card Reader, SCR, met with stiff resistance. The naysayers and those opposed, galvanised by prominent politicians and their cohorts, argued strongly then that the SCRs would not work in our rural backwaters. They cited lack of electricity to adequately charge them. They argued, speciously, that our rural folks were going to be overawed and overwhelmed by such a technology. To knock the bottom out of these arguments, INEC test-ran the SCRs in rural areas and across the six geopolitical zones. The SCRs, contrary to the claims of the naysayers, worked seamlessly. What is more, they were well received by a majority of rural folks to the enduring shame and chagrin of the naysayers.
It is possible that the Senate may have provided the caveat, of a recourse to the use of Form EC8A as a primary source of collation and declaration of results, on account of poor network and internet coverage, particularly in our rural areas which are not muscularly served and on an abundance of caution. After all, our rural areas enjoy only 23 per cent access to the internet, while our urban areas enjoy 57 per cent access.
But this abundance of caution is deliberately feigned. Also, consideration of poor network and internet coverage being adduced fly in the face of the facts. Ahead of the 2019 general elections, and in its determination to transmit polling unit results, real time, and subject to the enactment of an enabling law, INEC, in 2018, engaged with the Nigeria Communications Commission, NCC. It has had a long standing partnership with the NCC. This engagement led to the establishment of the INEC/NCC JOINT TECHNICAL COMMITTEE ON ELECTRONIC TRANSMISSION OF ELECTION RESULTS. This Committee, which included key Mobile Network Operators, MNOs, discovered, to its delight, as at then, that mobile networks adequately covered 93 per cent of INEC polling units across the country.
It is on the basis of this finding that INEC, subsequently, in 2021, in its POSITION PAPER(No 1/2021) stated that “it believes that it has developed adequate structures and procedures to successfully transmit election results electronically; the technology and national infrastructure to support this is adequate.”
Besides, between 2018 and 2026, the NCC and the MNOs have brought about some upgrade of our telecommunications infrastructure. From 3G, we have morphed to 4G. We are at the verge of transforming to 5G. This is not to add other safeguards such as Access Point Name, APN, and Virtual Private Network, VPN, which the NCC and the MNOs can deploy in the service and support of electronic transmission of results, real time.
It would also be a win-win for the telecommunications industry and INEC. The three, NCC, MNOs and INEC, will, in the event of electronic transmission of election results, real time, be challenged to up their games. They will be spurred to improve and improvise on their operations to the glory of their fatherland.
We have seen these improvements with technology introduced by INEC, particularly the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, BVAS. At first their deployment and usage were chaotic. But with time, INEC Staff became more hands-on and proficient, thereby reducing the time taken to carry out accreditation and to forestal rigging. In fact, in the POSITION PAPER referenced, INEC had further stated thus: “Electronic transmission of results will improve the quality of election result management and our engagement with stakeholders shows that the Nigerian public support it”.
By removing transmission of election results, real time, from the polling unit to the IReV from the Electoral Amendment Bill, the Senate has denied the telecommunications industry and the Election Management Body, EMB, the golden opportunity of honing their skills and deploying such skills in the service of transparent elections. It also says clearly that the Senate is imbued with a mindset that is negative, entrenched in antiquity and which pays little premium on excellence. Instead it thrives on the mediocre and garden variety.
Electronic transmission of election results, real time, from the polling unit to the IReV is possible. It can be done. This is adjudged and supported by INEC. It is what Nigerians demand. And this is attested to by the national outrage that greeted the Senate’s rejection of real time transmission of election results, the protests that followed and the attempts to occupy the National Assembly by civil society organisations.
Nigeria’s progress should not be hobbled by distinguished Senators who set store only by perpetuating themselves in office at the expense of transparent elections and deferring to the wishes of their constituents.
*Dazang is a commentator on public issues
