Election Results: Senate Maintains Electronic, Manual Transmission System

Amid the issue surrounding the transmission of election results, the Senate clarified its position on Section 60(3) of the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill, 2026 in its modified Votes and Proceedings of Wednesday, February 4 plenary.

The Senate Chief Whip, Mohammed Tahir Monguno, proposed the modification, which was later approved by the Red Chamber.

The Senate reiterated its adoption of electronic transmission of polling station election results, as stated in the amended resolution.

Lawmakers did, however, incorporate a safeguard to account for potential technical issues.

According to the latest clarification, the hard copy of Form EC8, which contains the results recorded at the polling station, will be the main source of collation in the event that a technical malfunction or communication error hinders the successful electronic transfer of results.

Party representatives at the polling station must counter-sign the form after it has been properly filled out, stamped, and signed by the presiding election officer.

The change essentially indicates that, although if electronic transmission is still the preferred method, Form EC8 manual documentation will be used as a fallback in the event of a technical malfunction.

Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe made a counter-motion after the motion was adopted, requesting a division. This would necessitate separate votes on Section 60(3) in order to clearly define each senator’s stance.

However, Abaribe retracted the motion after Senate President Godswill Akpabio encouraged him to move on with the proposal formally.

The clarification follows increased public scrutiny of the Senate’s previous discussions, which provoked demonstrations and debate across the country due to worries that the findings’ real-time electronic transmission had been compromised.

The Senate currently maintains that, subject to practical circumstances, electronic transmission is still a component of the law with the amendment to the Votes and Proceedings.

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