Senate Defends Discretionary E-Transmission, Cites Infrastructural Limits
The Senate has defended its decision to make the electronic transmission of election results discretionary rather than mandatory in the proposed Electoral Bill 2026, citing empirical data and the current realities of Nigeria’s communication and power infrastructure.
Leader of the Senate, Opeyemi Bamidele, said the amendment to Clause 60(3) of the bill followed extensive consultations and a careful analysis of official statistics, rather than political sentiment or public pressure.
The clause originally required presiding officers to “electronically transmit the results from each polling unit to the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV) in real time.”
However, the Senate revised it to allow Form EC8A as the primary means of result collation in the event of Internet failure.
Bamidele explained that while e-transmission is “desirable and progressive,” the country’s infrastructural limitations had to be considered before making it mandatory.
Citing data from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), he noted that broadband coverage in Nigeria reached about 70 per cent in 2025, while Internet penetration stood at 44.53 per cent of the population.
Former Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) Mike Igini, however, warned the 10th National Assembly to support mandatory real-time e-transmission of polling unit results.
He cautioned that failure to do so could result in many senators facing the same political fate as some of their predecessors and predicted that only a few senators might return after the 2027 general election if reliance on incidence forms is enshrined in the amended Electoral Act.
Titilope Adako is a talented and intrepid journalist, dedicated to shedding light on the untold stories of Osun State and Nigeria. Through incisive reporting, she tackles a broad spectrum of topics, from politics and social justice to culture and entertainment, with a commitment to accuracy, empathy, and inspiring positive change.
