…retains manual collation as backup
Isaac Samuel
Succumbing to series of protests, the Senate on Tuesday approved the electronic transmission of election results to the Independent National Electoral Commission’s Result Viewing Portal (IReV), while allowing manual collation to serve as a fallback where technology fails.
The decision followed a reconsideration of a contentious clause in the Electoral Act Amendment Bill during an emergency plenary session.
However, the upper chamber stopped short of making electronic transmission mandatory and rejected a proposal for real-time upload of results.
Under the reviewed provision, presiding officers at polling units are required to electronically transmit results to the IReV portal after voting and documentation have been completed.
The amendment also provides that where electronic transmission cannot be carried out due to communication or network challenges, the manual result sheet, Form EC8A, will become the primary basis for collation and declaration of results.
While putting the motion to a voice vote, Senate President Godswill Akpabio urged senators who disagreed with the amendment to formally challenge it.
“It’s very simple. If you disagree with him, move your counter motion. So, if you agree with him, you agree with me when I put the votes,” Akpabio said.
He explained that the motion before the chamber sought to reverse an earlier Senate decision on Section 60, Subsection 3 of the Electoral Act.
“When I ask for the votes, when I ask for your consent, let me read the motion. His earlier motion, which passed in our last sitting, he has sought to rescind that. That is in respect of Section 60, Subsection 3,” he stated.
Reading the amended clause, Akpabio said, “That the presiding officer shall electronically transmit the results from each polling unit to the IReV portal. And such transmission shall be done after the prescribed Form EC8A has been signed and stamped by the presiding officer and/or countersigned by the candidates or polling agents, where available at the polling units.”
He added that the law now accounts for situations where electronic transmission is impossible.
“Provided that if the electronic transmission of the results fails as a result of communication failure maybe network or otherwise and it becomes impossible to transmit the results electronically in Form EC8A signed and stamped by the presiding officer and/or countersigned by the candidates or polling agents where available at the polling units, the Form EC8A shall in such a case be the primary source of collation and declaration of results,” he said.
The amendment has, however, drawn concerns from civil society organisations and opposition figures, who argue that allowing manual results to override electronically transmitted ones could weaken transparency and create room for manipulation, particularly in areas with poor network coverage.
