₦airaland Forum

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, a public affairs analyst, wrote from Abuja

"The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has insisted it has the capacity to transmit election results electronically from remote areas across Nigeria. ..."

"Telcos Contradict APC, insist Nigeria has Capacity for Electronic Transmission of Election Results.."

lordm:
Real time no, but immediately after voting, yes.

Gotocourt:
Why wasting money on printing papers which is bulky and expensive 🤷🏿

Wizardslayer:
Trust APC to still find a way to manipulate the realtime transmission.

Britain will educate them on how to do it.

Racoon:
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.vanguardngr.com/2026/02/why-we-must-insist-on-real-time-transmission-of-results/amp/

Gotocourt:
This will stop criminals like Wike that rub it on our faces 📌💯👌.

Vifx:
You can't possibly have "real time" transmission of results if the election election isn't done by electronic voting 😔

Racoon:
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.vanguardngr.com/2026/02/why-we-must-insist-on-real-time-transmission-of-results/amp/

deji17:
No system is immune to hacking. Those pushing hard for this obviously has ulterior motives. It's not hard to count your votes at polling units, add it up and if it does not add up, you can prove your case in court.

PDPdestroyer:
You know most of those things called Obidients just parrot anything they see online without any understanding whatsoever.
How can you transfer a vote cast by the ballot in “real-time”? Most of them actually don’t know the meaning of the word, those who know the meaning are simply being mischievous.
I actually understand what they’re up to - they know they possibly can’t win the election, the hype has faded, they just want to use this to create a means of nullifying the elections in court by arguing that the entire results failed to follow the electoral act because the votes were not 100% transmitted in real-time, which doesn’t make any sense since we don’t vote electronically.

Racoon:
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.vanguardngr.com/2026/02/why-we-must-insist-on-real-time-transmission-of-results/amp/

Heffalump:
Real-Time Transmission of electoral results or nothing.

If the opposition is not working hard to get the attention of the international community on this, then they're not going anywhere. We have a criminal as president. He can do anything to sit tight.

APC in their opposition days went to America to lobby with Obama. Trump is ready to work hand-in-hand with Nigeria to ensure the appropriate things are done. If Nigeria get it right, believe me many African countries will follow suit.

franchasofficia:
God bless you abundantly.

If the opposition cannot go the extra mile to lobby foreign powers like America to force Nigerian government to implement realtime electronic transmission of polling unit election results, then they are not ready to fight for 2027 general election.
APC did everything humanly and spiritually possible to lobby then US President Obama to help their fight to push out PDP.
I expect opposition leaders to be lobbying for America as the father of democracy in the world, to persuade Nigerian government to implement this electronic transmission of polling unit election results, without that, Tinubu that I know won't sign it into law even if Senate pass the bill