The Nigerian Senate has approved a combination of electronic and manual methods for transmitting election results, adopting a hybrid approach in the ongoing review of the Electoral Amendment Bill.
Under the decision, presiding officers at polling units are to upload results electronically to the Independent National Electoral Commission’s Result Viewing (IREV) portal. However, where electronic transmission is hampered by network or technical challenges, the manually completed result sheet will be used as a fallback.
The development came amid heightened tension at the National Assembly on Monday, as protesters gathered at the main entrance around 9:30 a.m., demanding the passage of the Electoral Amendment Bill that guarantees real-time electronic transmission of results from polling units.
In response to the controversy surrounding the clause on electronic transmission, the Senate convened an emergency plenary session to deliberate on the matter.
During the session, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe invoked Senate rules to call for voting by division, citing provisions that allow any senator to challenge the ruling of the presiding officer where disagreements arise.
Senator Mohammed Tahir Monguno, representing Borno North Senatorial District, subsequently moved a motion seeking to rescind the Senate’s earlier decision on Clause 60, Subsection 3 of the bill, which specifically addresses the electronic transmission of election results.
The motion triggered heated debate on the Senate floor, with particular concern raised over the continued reliance on Form EC8A as the primary reference document in cases of disputed election results.
