Nigerian lawmakers approve changes to election law, drop plan to compel electronic results uploads
Nigeria’s Senate has passed the Electoral Act 2022 (Repeal and Re-enactment) Amendment Bill 2026, but rejected a proposal that would have made the electronic transmission of election results mandatory.
The amendment to clause 60(3) would have required presiding officers of the Independent National Electoral Commission (Inec), Nigeria’s election management body, to transmit results electronically from polling units to the IREV portal, an online platform introduced to improve transparency, after official result forms had been completed and signed by party agents.
Instead, lawmakers retained the existing provision of the Electoral Act, which states that results should be transmitted “in a manner as prescribed by the commission”. Critics argue the wording gives Inec wide discretion and does not compel real-time electronic publication of results.
The Senate president, Godswill Akpabio, denied that lawmakers had rejected electronic transmission altogether, insisting the option already exists in the law.
“Electronic transmission has always been in our act,” Akpabio said. “What we did was retain the existing provision, which already makes provision for electronic transmission.”
He said there was no attempt to delay or undermine the passage of the legislation.
Nigeria has in recent elections introduced technology aimed at reducing fraud, including the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), which uses fingerprints and facial recognition to verify voters, and the IREV portal, where polling unit results are uploaded. However, the effectiveness of these tools has been contested following technical failures and delays during the 2023 general election.
Earlier, the Senate rejected a proposal under clause 22 to impose a 10-year prison sentence on those involved in the buying and selling of permanent voter cards (PVCs), the document required to vote in Nigeria. Instead, lawmakers retained a two-year jail term while increasing the fine from ₦2m (£1,000) to ₦5m.
The chamber also amended clause 28, reducing the deadline for the publication of a notice of election from 360 days to 180 days before polling day, shortening the formal campaign calendar.
Under clause 29, the deadline for political parties to submit lists of candidates and sworn affidavits was cut from 180 days to 90 days before a general election. Parties are required to submit only candidates who emerged from internal primary elections, a process often criticised for lack of transparency.
Lawmakers retained clause 44 on the format of ballot papers, which requires Inec to invite political parties to inspect samples of electoral materials at least 20 days before an election. Parties have two days to approve or raise objections.
Clause 47 was amended to replace older smart card readers with the BVAS system for voter accreditation and voting. However, the Senate rejected the use of electronically generated voter identification and retained the permanent voter card as the sole means of identification at polling units.
The Senate also removed clause 142, which would have allowed courts to rely solely on documentary evidence in election petitions without oral testimony. Lawmakers argued the provision could complicate judicial proceedings.
A conference committee has been set up to harmonise the bill, chaired by Tahir Munguno, before it is transmitted for presidential assent.