The House of Representatives has reversed its previous stance and approved a version of the Electoral Act Amendment Bill that permits both electronic and manual transmission of election results.
Lawmakers withdrew their earlier endorsement of Clause 60 (3) and aligned with the version previously approved by the Senate.
This new approval was made during an emergency session, leading to protests from opposition members.
Some opposition lawmakers walked out of the chamber, chanting “APC, ole” in protest of the decision.
Initially, the House had passed a clause requiring the presiding officer to electronically transmit results from each polling unit to the IREV portal after completing and signing Form EC8A.
However, the Senate’s version introduced a condition.
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While it still supports electronic transmission to the IREV portal, it stipulates that if electronic transmission fails due to communication issues, the manually signed Form EC8A will serve as the primary source for collating and declaring results.
This means that in instances of network failure or technical difficulties, the physical result sheet signed at the polling unit will be considered the official record.
This development is likely to ignite renewed political debate, as the electronic transmission of results has been a contentious issue in Nigeria’s electoral process.
