The Senate has explained that empirical data on Nigeria’s communication and power infrastructure guided its decision to make electronic transmission of election results discretionary rather than mandatory in the Electoral Bill, 2026.
In a statement issued on Sunday by the Directorate of Media and Public Affairs, the Leader of the Senate, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, said the decision was not driven by emotion or sentiment but by the country’s infrastructural realities.
The Senate had earlier reviewed Clause 60(3) of the Electoral Bill, 2026, which proposed that presiding officers “shall electronically transmit the results from each polling unit to the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV) in real time.”
Following deliberations, the upper chamber resolved to delete the phrase “real time” and inserted a caveat that in the event of internet failure, Form EC8A would serve as the primary means of result collation.
Bamidele said while the proposal for real-time electronic transmission could ordinarily deepen public trust in democratic institutions, the Senate considered infrastructure limitations before arriving at its position.
Citing data from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), he said Nigeria achieved about 70 per cent broadband coverage in 2025, while internet user penetration stood at 44.53 per cent of the population.
He also referenced the Speedtest Global Index, which ranked Nigeria 85th out of 105 countries in mobile network reliability and 129th out of 150 countries in fixed broadband reliability.
According to him, Nigeria’s mobile network reliability was recorded at 44.14 megabits per second, while fixed broadband speed stood at 33.32 mbps, placing the country significantly below global averages.
On power infrastructure, Bamidele noted that about 85 million Nigerians, representing roughly 43 per cent of the population, still lack access to grid electricity. He added that although
generation capacity ranges between 12,000 and 13,500 megawatts, only about 4,500 megawatts can be delivered nationwide due to transmission and distribution constraints.
Given these conditions, the Senate leader argued that making real-time electronic transmission mandatory could create operational challenges and potentially destabilise the electoral process.
He maintained that the Senate’s redrafting of Clause 60(3 & 5) was aimed at balancing public expectations with infrastructural realities, while retaining provisions for electronic transmission consistent with existing laws.
According to him, lawmaking must be grounded in facts and institutional capacity rather than sentiment, warning that legislation that fails to reflect prevailing realities could create instability.
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