Senate President Godswill Akpabio has dismissed reports claiming that the Senate rejected the electronic transmission of election results during deliberations on the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill.
Akpabio made the clarification shortly after the upper chamber passed the bill following a marathon sitting that lasted about four and a half hours.
Debate on the controversial amendment to Clause 60, Subsection 3, of the bill began around 2:00 pm and continued until 6:26 pm, triggering widespread speculation online that lawmakers had voted against mandatory electronic transmission of results.
Media reports had suggested that the Senate shot down a proposal that would have compelled presiding officers of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to upload polling unit results electronically to the INEC Result Viewing (IREV) portal in real time after signing and stamping the prescribed forms.
The reports further claimed that the Senate retained the existing provision of the Electoral Act, which allows presiding officers to transmit results, including the number of accredited voters, in a manner determined by INEC.
However, Akpabio described such interpretations as misleading, stressing that electronic transmission of results was neither removed nor rejected.
“Distinguished colleagues, social media is awash with reports that the Senate has rejected electronic transmission of results. That is not true,” he said.
“What we did was to retain the provision on electronic transmission that already exists in the law and was applied in the 2022 elections. It is still part of our electoral framework.”
Akpabio added that the Senate merely upheld the previous provision, which already accommodates electronic transmission, noting that the lawmakers had no intention of reversing existing gains.
“This Senate, under my watch, has not rejected electronic transmission of results. We cannot afford to go backwards,” he said, urging the public not to be swayed by misinformation.
