In the continuing Electoral Act reform, the Senate passed real-time transmission of election results from polling stations, as the Senate Minority Caucus has stated.
The proposal to require the Independent National Electoral Commission, or INEC, to electronically transmit all election results was reportedly rejected by the Senate on Wednesday.
Opposition MPs, including Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, and Natasha Akpoti, among others, stated at a news conference on Thursday that the proposal was accepted and emphasized that the Senate passed results transmission rather than transfer.
Speaking to reporters on behalf of the opposition legislators, Abaribe stated, “We felt that it is necessary to clarify what happened yesterday to put the record straight.”
“The 2022 Act, which would have transferred results, was not passed by the Senate yesterday. What we passed was transmission of results.
“I must be extremely clear about this. With the confidence of their senatorial zones, each of us who has the honor of representing a senatorial district came here.
“We went inside the closed-section to clean up everything so that we could pass it without animosity when we returned to plenary.
“I can guarantee you that Section 63, which deals with the electronic transmission of results, was approved by the Senate’s electoral committee, ad hoc committee, and executive session. We authorized transmission rather than transfer.
“What is in the 2022 Act is transfer, and we don’t want a statute that is so ambiguous that anyone may misunderstand it.
“We want a law that is explicit, succinct, and clear. The results are transmitted electronically.
