The Nigerian Senate has amended its Votes and Proceedings of the Wednesday, February 4 plenary, clarified its position on Section 60(3) of the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill, 2026, following intense public controversy over the transmission of election results.
The amendment was reached after a motion moved by the Senate Chief Whip, Senator Mohammed Tahir Monguno, which was subsequently adopted by the Red Chamber.
The clarification came amid nationwide protests and growing public pressure on lawmakers to ensure real-time electronic transmission of election results.
Earlier, protesters had stormed the National Assembly, demanding that the Senate uphold transparent and technology-driven electoral processes.
According to the revised resolution, the Senate reaffirmed its approval of electronic transmission of election results from polling units. However, lawmakers introduced specific safeguards to address situations where technological challenges may arise.
Under the new provision, where electronic transmission is hindered by communication glitches or technical failures, the hard copy of Form EC8 which contains polling unit results shall serve as the primary source for collation. The form must be duly completed, stamped, and signed by the presiding officer, and counter-signed by party agents present at the polling unit.
The development established electronic transmission as the preferred mode of result submission, while manual documentation is retained strictly as a backup mechanism in cases of verified technological disruption.
Following the adoption of the motion, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe moved a counter-motion seeking a division of the chamber to allow individual voting on Section 60(3), a procedure that would have formally recorded each senator’s stance. However, after Senate President Godswill Akpabio requested that the motion be formally presented, Abaribe withdrew it.
The Senate’s clarification is seen as a response to heightened public scrutiny and sustained civic pressure, which followed earlier deliberations that many Nigerians believed weakened the provision for real-time electronic transmission of results.
With the amendment to its Votes and Proceedings, the Senate now maintained that electronic transmission of election results remained enshrined in law, subject only to practical and technical contingencies.
