Amid the backlash that followed Wednesday’s decision of the Senate to reject mandatory e-transmission of election results by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), opposition senators said on Thursday that they would ensure that the provision was contained in the Electoral Bill, 2026.

The senators argued that they believed the provision that was passed on Wednesday was a real-time electronic transmission of results and not that the Senate rejected it, as widely reported.

The contentious provision was captured in Clause 60 (3) of the bill.

It states, “The Presiding Officer shall electronically transmit the results from each polling unit to IREV portal in 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 available at the polling unit.”

However, this mandatory provision was amended by the Senate on Wednesday by replacing electronic transmission and real-time with the word “transfer”, before passing the clause.

The swift amendment was made after the Chief Whip, Senator Mohammed Monguno, moved a motion for it and was seconded by the Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Barau Jibrin, before the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, put it to vote and rammed his gavel in favour of the amendment.

Akpabio, while later rounding off the session after the bill passed third reading, said what the Senate did was to amend the provision by bringing it in line with the 2022 Electoral Act, a provision which doesn’t make electronic transmission of results mandatory.

Implicitly, INEC still reserves the power to determine the mode of transmission of election results, which can be manual or electronic, but not mandatory.

Section 60(5) of the extant 2022 Act states: “The presiding officer shall transfer the result, including the total number of accredited voters and the result of the ballot in a manner as prescribed by the Commission.”

That is the provision Akpabio said the Senate amended the bill to retain on Wednesday.

The 13 opposition senators, who were led by Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe (Abia-South), insisted they believed the bill that was passed on Thursday, contained electronic transmission of results.

Abaribe clarified that the Senate passed the new recommendation on electronic transmission and not a repeat of the 2022 Act, even though Akpabio clearly announced, “Clause 60 as amended”, while passing the clauses on Wednesday.

Abaribe, however, said they would wait for the votes and proceedings of the day’s sitting and ensure that what was passed was indeed electronic transmission of results.

The Abia senator stated, “To put the record straight, yesterday (Wednesday), the Senate did not, I repeat, did not pass transfer of results which was in the 2022 Act.

“What we passed, which the Senate President himself said when he was doing a clarification, sitting on his chair, is electronic transmission of results.”

According to him, anything short of electronic transmission of results will not be acceptable to them, adding that senators are prepared to follow up on the bill till the signing stage by President Bola Tinubu.

He spoke further, “I can assure you on my honour, and on all of us who are standing here, that both the Electoral Committee of the Senate and the Ad-Hoc Committee of the Senate, and also in the Executive Session, that we all agreed on Section 60 (3), which is electronic transmission of votes, or electronic transmission of results.”

Also speaking, Senator Abdul Ningi (PDP, Bauchi-Central), said he too was sure the Senate passed electronic transmission of results.

Ningi explained, “Our coming here today is to assure Nigerians that the Senate at no time since September last year when the whole process for new electoral Act for the 2027 general election started, jettisoned the need for legal provision for electronic transmission of election results by INEC.

“This negative trajectory against the Senate and by extension, the National Assembly, should stop,

“We shall ensure that Clause 60(3) of the 2026 Electoral Bill, follows what will be transmitted to the President for assent.”

Other senators who attended the session were Austin Akobundu (PDP, Abia-Central); Peter Jiya (PDP, Niger-South); Ireti Kingibe (ADC, FCT); Victor Umeh (LP, Anambra-Central); Binos Yaroe (PDP, Adamawa-South); Kabeeb Mustapha (PDP, Jigawa South-West); Khalid Mustapha (PDP, Kaduna-North); Mohammed Ogoshi Onawo (PDP, Nasarawa-South); Aminu Waziri Tambuwal (PDP, Sokoto-South); Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan (PDP, Kogi Central); and Tony Nwoye (LP, Anambra-North). (Nigerian Tribune)