While considering the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill, Senate President Godswill Akpabio made it clear that the chamber did not reject the electronic transmission of election results.
The law was enacted by the Senate after a four and a half hour marathon session, and Akpabio made the announcement shortly after.
Legislators allegedly voted against requiring electronic transmission of results after debating a contentious modification to the bill’s Clause 60, Subsection 3, from approximately 2:00 p.m. to 6:26 p.m.
There were rumours going around that the red chamber had rejected a plan to have INEC presiding officers electronically transmit the results from every polling unit to the INEC Result Viewing (IREV) portal as soon as they signed and stamped the official results forms.
According to the reports, the Senate stuck with the current Electoral Act clause that says the chair must follow the Commission’s instructions when transferring results, such as the total number of accredited voters and the ballot’s outcome.
The Senate did not strike out electronic transmission from the statute, according to Akpabio, who maintained that this reading was deceptive.
Supposedly, the Senate has already denied electronic transmission of results, according to claims circulating on social media. No, it is incorrect. Our action was to maintain the electronic transmission provision from the Act, which was put into use in 2022.
Do not let anyone mislead you, please. If you still have questions, feel free to ask for a copy of our final votes and processes.
Electronic transmission of results has not been rejected by this Senate under my leadership. Having this done is something I can get behind as an elector in the next election. Therefore, steer clear of the herd mentality.
Through alteration, we have preserved the content of the preceding clause. That was our exclusive activity. Since the prior statute explicitly permitted electronic transmission, it is still a component of our statute. “We simply cannot afford to regress,” Akpabio declared.