A coalition of Nigerian civil society organisations has raised concerns over changes made by the Senate to a key clause in the country’s Electoral Act, warning that the revisions could weaken safeguards around the electronic transmission of election results.
On Tuesday, the Senate reversed its earlier rejection of electronic transmission of results and adopted a revised version of Clause 60(3), allowing results from polling units to be transmitted electronically.
Under the new wording, electronic transmission is required “as long as it does not fail”, while Form EC8A, the official polling unit result sheet is designated as the primary source of election results.
In a joint statement, several groups including the Centre for Media and Society, The Kukah Centre, International Press Centre, Yiaga Africa and the Nigerian Women Trust Fund welcomed the Senate’s decision to reinstate electronic transmission. They described it as a positive response to sustained public pressure.
However, they warned that parts of the revised clause contain what they called “dangerous insertions” that could undermine electoral transparency.
The groups said the phrase “provided if it fails and it becomes impossible to transmit” is unclear and open to interpretation. According to them, the bill does not define what constitutes a failure in electronic transmission, how such failure should be documented, or what verification processes should follow.
“In the absence of clear safeguards, this clause risks creating a loophole that could undermine the very purpose of electronic transmission,” the statement said.
The coalition argued that leaving room for discretion in handling results could reopen opportunities for manipulation between the declaration of results at polling units and the final collation.
They also expressed concern about naming Form EC8A as the “primary source” of results without giving equal legal status to electronically transmitted copies. They warned that if electronic results are not treated as equally authoritative, their role as a transparency and accountability tool could be weakened.
Electronic transmission of results was introduced in the 2022 Electoral Act as part of broader reforms aimed at improving credibility and reducing disputes in Nigeria’s elections.
The Senate has also expanded its conference committee membership from six to twelve members to harmonise its position with that of the House of Representatives.
The civil society groups urged lawmakers to adopt the House of Representatives’ provision, which makes electronic transmission mandatory in real time and requires that transmitted results be used to verify any other results before collation.
They also called for the retention of existing electoral timelines in the 2022 law, including 360 days’ notice before elections, 180 days for submission of candidate lists and 150 days for publication of nominations by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Describing electronic transmission as a “structural safeguard” rather than a symbolic reform, the coalition said Nigerians had consistently demanded transparent and credible elections.
“The details matter,” the statement said. “The credibility of future elections depends on getting Clause 60(3) right.”
The groups urged citizens, political parties, media organisations and technology experts to remain engaged as the bill moves to the conference committee stage.
