Protesters on Monday returned to the National Assembly complex in Abuja, renewing their demand that real-time electronic transmission of election results be made compulsory in the proposed Electoral Act Amendment Bill, 2026.
The demonstrators, including civil society organisations such as YIAGA Africa Situation Room and ActionAid Nigeria, insisted that manual collation of results should be completely scrapped to eliminate opportunities for manipulation during elections.
The protest comes after a five-day pause, which followed assurances given by lawmakers during last Tuesday’s plenary session.
Security personnel mounted barricades at the entrances to the National Assembly complex, preventing the protesters from gaining access and compelling them to hold their demonstration outside the main gates.
The protesters reiterated their call for full transparency in the electoral process. They argued that with funds already allocated in the election budget for technological infrastructure, there was no justification for retaining manual backup systems that could undermine the credibility of results.
The renewed agitation follows developments at the Senate last week. During an emergency plenary session, the Senate revisited its earlier position on Clause 60(3) of the Electoral Act Amendment Bill.
The Senate Chief Whip, Sen. Tahir Monguno (APC, Borno North), moved a motion to delete the phrase “real-time” and substitute the word “transmission” with “transfer.”
The proposal generated heated debate, with some lawmakers, including Enyinnaya Abaribe (APGA, Abia South), raising objections and points of order during deliberations.
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At the conclusion of the debate, the Senate resolved to approve electronic transmission of results to the Independent National Electoral Commission’s Result Viewing Portal (IReV), while retaining manual collation as a fallback option in the event of technical challenges.
The Senate is expected to reconvene on Tuesday, February 17, at 11 a.m., to deliberate further on national matters.
Despite the Senate’s position, the protesters vowed to sustain their demonstrations until real-time electronic transmission is clearly enshrined as a mandatory provision in the amended law.
