Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) have called for the adoption of a clear and mandatory framework for the electronic transmission of election results, in line with the position earlier taken by the House of Representatives.
The call was made in Lagos during a Press Conference on the Electoral Act and Credible Elections, organisaed by some civil society organisations to engage the media on recent National Assembly developments and their implications for electoral integrity.
In a joint statement by Dr Akin Akingbulu, the Executive Director of the Centre for Media and Society (CEMESO) and Mr. Lanre Arogundade, Executive Director of the International Press Centre (IPC), the groups urged lawmakers to expedite the harmonisation of the Electoral Bill and pass provisions that strengthen transparency and credibility in Nigeria’s electoral system ahead of the 2027 general election.
According to them, electronic transmission of election results should be compulsory rather than discretionary, noting that legal certainty is essential for the conduct of credible elections.
They recommended that the conference committee should retain the House of Representatives’ provision mandating electronic transmission, while refining the language to avoid tying the law to a single technology platform.
According to the statement, explicit references to platforms such as the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal could introduce rigidity into the law, given the evolving nature of electoral technology.
Instead, the groups proposed a technology-neutral approach that mandates electronic transmission as a legal obligation, while allowing the electoral management body flexibility in implementation.
The civil society organisations also proposed a modification to Clause 60(3) of the Electoral Bill to require designated election officials to electronically transmit all election results in real time, including the number of accredited voters, directly from polling units and collation centres to a public portal.
They further recommended that electronically transmitted results be used to verify other results before collation.
They clarified that real-time transmission refers to the electronic uploading of officially announced polling unit results immediately after counting, in the presence of party agents, observers, and voters.
The objective, they said, wad to ensure that polling unit results are publicly available for verification before physical movement for collation, thereby strengthening transparency and public trust in the electoral process.
The recommendation forms part of broader submissions to the conference committee constituted by the Senate and the House of Representatives to reconcile differences in their respective versions of the Electoral Bill.
The groups urged the committee to prioritise legal clarity, institutional integrity, and democratic accountability as it concludes deliberations on the amendments.