Electoral Act: We didn't reject electronic transmission of results

Some opposition senators have said the Electoral Act amendment passed by the Senate on Wednesday accommodates the electronic transmission of election results.

The lawmakers said this at a press briefing at the National Assembly.

Those at the briefing were Enyinnaya Abaribe (APGA, Abia South), Abdul Ningi ( PDP, Bauchi Central), Austin Akobundu (PDP – Abia Central), Peter Jiya (PDP – Niger South), Ireti Kingibe (ADC – FCT), Victor Umeh (LP – Anambra Central), Binos Yaroe (PDP – Adamawa South), and Kabeeb Mustapha (PDP, Jigawa South West).

Others were Khalid Mustapha (PDP Kaduna North), Mohammed Ogoshi Onawo (APC – Nasarawa South), Aminu Tambuwal (PDP – Sokoto South), Tony Nwoye (LP – Anambra North) and Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan (PDP – Kogi Central).

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Mr Abaribe, who spoke on behalf of the lawmakers, said confusion over the provision arose from side conversations during the clause-by-clause consideration of the amendment bill in plenary.

“Yesterday, the Senate did not, I repeat, did not reject transmission of results as contained in the 2022 Act. What we passed is ‘transmission’ of results.

“The distinction is important. What is in the 2022 Act is ‘transfer,’ but we do not want a law that is vague or capable of misinterpretation. We want a law that is clear, concise and unambiguous electronic transmission of results,” he said.

Mr Abaribe said both the Senate Committee on Electoral Matters and the ad hoc committee recommended electronic transmission of results, a position he said was agreed upon during the clause-by-clause consideration.

“On the honour of all of us standing here, both the Senate electoral committee, the ad hoc committee and the executive session agreed on the provision for electronic transmission of results in real time.

“Confusion arose due to movements and side conversations in the chamber, giving the impression that something different had been approved. We went back individually to confirm what was done, and we were reassured,” he said.

However, Mr Abaribe’s comments appear to contradict the Senate’s outcome on the bill on Wednesday.

During the clause-by-clause review, lawmakers rejected a proposal seeking to make the electronic transmission of election results from polling units to the Independent National Electoral Commission’s Result Viewing Portal (IREV) mandatory after vote counting.

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Instead, under Clause 60, the Senate retained the provision in the 2022 Electoral Act that allows election results to be transmitted to the collation centre.

Neither Mr Abaribe nor any of the senators who addressed journalists publicly opposed the clause during plenary.

After the passage of the bill, however, the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, attempted to address criticisms, insisting that the amendment did not abolish electronic transmission of results.