Civil society organisations have urged the conference committee of the National Assembly to adopt a clear and mandatory framework for the electronic transmission of election results, aligning with the position earlier taken by the House of Representatives.
In a statement jointly presented by Dr Akin Akingbulu, Executive Director of the Centre for Media and Society, and Mr Lanre Arogundade, Executive Director of the International Press Centre, lawmakers were urged to expeditiously harmonize the process and pass provisions that reinforce transparency and credibility in Nigeria’s electoral system ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The groups stressed that electronic transmission of results should not be discretionary but compulsory, arguing that certainty in the law is essential for credible elections. They specifically recommended that the committee retain the House of Representatives’ provision mandating electronic transmission, while refining the wording to avoid tying the law to a single technology platform.
According to the statement, referencing specific platforms such as the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal could introduce rigidity into the law, given the evolving nature of electoral technology. Instead, the groups proposed a technology-neutral approach that mandates electronic transmission as an obligation, while allowing the electoral management body flexibility in implementation.
The civil society groups proposed a modification to Clause 60(3) of the Electoral Bill to state that designated election officials “shall electronically transmit all election results in real time, including the number of accredited voters, directly from the polling units and collation centres to a public portal,” and that such transmitted results should be used to verify results before collation.
They clarified that real-time transmission refers to the electronic uploading of officially announced polling unit results immediately after counting, in the presence of party agents, observers, and voters. The intent, they noted, is to ensure that results declared at polling units are publicly available for verification before physical movement for collation, thereby strengthening transparency and trust in the process.
The recommendation forms part of broader submissions to the conference committee constituted by the Senate and the House of Representatives to reconcile differences in their versions of the Electoral Bill. The groups called on the committee to prioritise legal clarity, institutional integrity, and democratic accountability as it concludes its work on the amendments.
