Senate Approves Electronic Transmission Of Polling Unit Results, Retains Form EC8A Citing ‘Network Challenges’
The Senate on Tuesday amended Section 60 of the Electoral Act to allow presiding officers at polling units to electronically transmit election results to the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) Results Viewing Portal (IREV).
The amendment was adopted during an emergency plenary, where Senate President Godswill Akpabio outlined the updated procedure for result handling.
According to the new provision, presiding officers must transmit results electronically after Form EC8A has been duly signed and stamped by the officer and countersigned by candidates or their polling agents, where available.
Akpabio also clarified the fallback mechanism, stating that where electronic transmission fails due to communication or network issues, the manually signed and stamped Form EC8A will serve as the primary document for collation and declaration of results.
The amendment, passed as Clause 60(3), followed a motion by Senate Chief Whip Mohammed Monguno seeking to reverse the Senate’s earlier position, which had upheld limits on real-time electronic transmission under the 2023 Electoral Act.
With the revised clause, electronic transmission may now be used where technology permits, while Form EC8A remains the legally authoritative record in cases of technical failure.
The development generated brief debate on the floor, with Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe initially calling for a division before later withdrawing his request.
