2027: Senate Passed Electronic “Transmission” Of Results But Akpabio Secretely Replaced It With “Transfer” Used In 2023 Election

Some Senators on Thursday accused Senate President Godswill Akpabio of removing the passage of electronic transmission of election results from the electoral bill passed during proceeding on Wednesday.

During a press conference on Thursday, the senators led by Enyinnaya Abaribe, Aminu Tambuwal, and Natasha Akpoti, insisted on retaining electronic transmission of election results in the electoral bill.

Speaking during the press conference in a video seen by Peoples Gazette, Mr Abaribe said it was necessary to make a clarification on Wednesday’s proceedings.

“To put the records straight, the Senate did not pass the transfer of results which was in the 2022 Act. What we passed; and which the Senate President himself, when he was doing a clarification, sitting on his chair; is transmission of results.

“I can assure you on my honour and on the honour of all of us here, that both the electoral committee of the Senate and the ad-hoc committee of the Senate; and also in the executive session that we had, that we all agreed on Section 60(3) which is electronic transmission of results. Transmit, not transfer. What is in the 2022 act is transfer, and we don’t want a law that is vague or can be misinterpreted. We want a law that is clear, concise, and can be interpreted by all and that is unambiguous, so, it is electronic transmission of results,” Mr Abaribe said.

The Nigerian Senate on Wednesday announced the passage of the Electoral Act, 2022 (Repeal & Enactment) Bill, 2026, while rejecting a proposed amendment to make electronic transmission of election results compulsory.

The Senate, instead, announced the retainment of the 2022 framework, which mandates manual completion, signing, stamping, and distribution of results to party agents and security personnel, with results announced at polling units and transferred in a manner as prescribed by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), without mandating electronic transmission.

Senators also rejected Clause 47, which sought to allow electronically-generated voter identification (such as downloadable voter cards with QR codes) for accreditation.

The requirement to present a physical Permanent Voter Card (PVC) remains in place and the use of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) or other INEC-prescribed devices for verification was upheld.

However, Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, during plenary on Wednesday, refuted the claim that the Senate did not pass the electronic transmission of election results.

He noted that the Senate retained Clause 60 relating to the electronic transmission of election results, as proposed.

Mr Akpabio stated, “The social media is already awash with the fact that the Senate has rejected electronic transmission. That is not true. Electronic transmission has always been in our hearts. And what we did was to retain the electronic transmission, which has been in our hearts, and which was used in 2020.

“So, please, do not allow people to confuse you. If you are in doubt, we will make our final votes and proceedings available to you if you apply and you are entitled, so that you’ll see.

“This Senate, under my watch, has not rejected electronic transmission of results. It’s in my interest as a participant in the next election for such to be done.

“So, please don’t go with the crowd. We have retained what was in the previous provision. That’s all we did.”

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