Senate Did Not Reject Electronic Transmission of Results — Akpabio

The Senate has refuted reports suggesting that it rejected the electronic transmission of election results during deliberations on the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill.
Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio, gave the clarification shortly after the upper chamber passed the bill following a marathon session that lasted about four and a half hours.

Debate on the controversial amendment to Clause 60, Subsection 3, of the bill commenced at about 2:00 p.m. and ended at 6:26 p.m., a development that sparked widespread speculation on social media that lawmakers had voted against the mandatory electronic transmission of results.
Reports had circulated that the Senate threw out a proposal seeking to compel presiding officers of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to transmit results electronically from polling units to the INEC Result Viewing (IREV) portal in real time after signing and stamping the required result forms.
However, Akpabio dismissed such claims as misleading, insisting that the Senate did not expunge electronic transmission from the law.
Addressing his colleagues, he said: “Distinguished colleagues, the social media is already awash with reports that the Senate has literally rejected electronic transmission of results. That is not true. What we did was to retain the electronic transmission which has been in the Act and was used in 2022.
“So please, do not allow people to confuse you. If you are in doubt, we will make our final votes and proceedings available to you if you apply.
“This Senate under my watch has not rejected the electronic transmission of results. It is in my interest as a participant in the next election for such to be done. So please don’t go with the crowd.
“We have retained what was in the previous provision by way of amendment. That was all we did. The previous provision made allowance for electronic transmission, and it is still there as part of our law. We cannot afford to go backwards.”
Akpabio explained that his remarks were meant to allay public concerns and correct what he described as a deliberate or careless misrepresentation of the Senate’s decision on the bill, as the National Assembly continues work on electoral reforms ahead of future elections.