CSOs Reject Senate’s ‘Watered-Down’ Electoral Bill, Demand Real-Time Result Transmission
As Nigeria inches closer to another election cycle, the battle over how votes are counted and transmitted is intensifying, and civil society groups are warning that the integrity of future polls is at stake.
The Speak Out Africa Initiative (SOAI) has rejected the version of the Electoral Bill 2026 recently passed by the Senate, describing it as a setback to Nigerians’ demands for transparent, credible and technology-enabled elections.
The group stated that the Senate’s amendments weaken key provisions that should guarantee the real-time electronic transmission of results from polling units to INEC’s IReV portal.
In a statement signed by its Head of Communications, Sunday Jacob Esq, SOAI faulted the Senate’s revised Clause 60(3), which makes electronic transmission conditional on technical feasibility and administrative discretion.
According to the group, this falls short of the House of Representatives’ version, which mandates real-time transmission, and risks a repeat of controversies witnessed during the 2023 elections.
The CSO warned that retaining Form EC8A as the primary evidence when electronic systems fail opens the process to ambiguity, manipulation and disputes, undermining public trust in the electoral system.
SOAI is now urging Nigerians to focus attention on the 24-member Conference and Harmonisation Committee of the National Assembly, calling on the panel to adopt the House version of the Bill.
The group also demanded that the Committee’s deliberations be televised live to allow citizens to follow and hold lawmakers accountable.
Among its recommendations, SOAI called for real-time electronic transmission to IReV, clearer election timelines, electronic PVC downloads and the retention of key electoral timelines proposed by the House.
It appealed to citizens, civil society, youth groups, women, the media and faith-based organisations to sustain pressure on lawmakers to protect the integrity of the vote.
“Our votes must count,” the group stressed, insisting that the final Electoral Bill must reflect the democratic will of Nigerians and guarantee transparent elections.
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