President Bola Tinubu on Wednesday gave reason for signing the Electoral Act 2026 (Amendment) into law, despite the controversy around it.
Tinubu said the real time electronic transmission of results is not the issue with the country’s electoral process but proper management and human oversight.
The two chambers- House of Representatives and Senate had approved the amendment to the electoral Act and transmitted it to the president for assent.
He said” “It’s not as important as the history aspects of this. What is crucial is the fact that you manage the process to the extent there will be no confusion, no disenfranchisement of Nigerians, and that we are all going to see democracy flourish.
“No matter how good the system is, it’s managed by the people, promoted by the people, and the result is finalised by the people,” the President said.
Speaking on the issue of controversy of real- time transmission of election results, Tinubu said, “In fact, for final results, you are not going to be talking to the computer; you are going to be talking to human beings who will announce the final results.
“And when you look at the crux of various arguments, maybe Nigerians should question our broadband capability. How technically are we today? How technically will we be tomorrow to answer the call of either real-time or not?”
The President stressed that “And as long as you appear personally, as a manual voter in any polling booth, a ballot paper is given to you manually, you decide in a corner and thumbprint the person of your choice, you cast your votes, without hindrance and any interference, ballots are subsequently counted manually, sorted, and counted manually.
“It’s just the arithmetic accuracy that is to enter into Form EC8A. It’s the manual, essentially. The transmission of that manual result is what we’re looking at.
“And we need to avoid glitches — I’m glad you did — interference, unnecessary hacking in this age of computer inquisitiveness.
“Nigeria will be there. We will flourish. We will continue to nurture this democracy for the fulfillment of our dream for the prosperity and stability of our country,” the President added.
The amendment to the Electoral Act became the centre of intense public and legislative debate recently over whether election results should be electronically transmitted in real time from polling units to the INEC central server.
The House of Representatives initially passed a version mandating real-time electronic transmission of results.
However, when the Senate reconsidered the proposed amendment, it retained electronic transmission provisions but stopped short of making real-time uploads mandatory, instead allowing manual collation as a fallback where technology fails.
This raised widespread criticism from opposition parties, civil society organisations, professional bodies and reform advocates, who argued that the provision still created room for manipulation and ambiguity.
The Senate’s decision triggered protests and walkouts within the National Assembly, as lawmakers grappled with the language of Clause 60(3) of the Electoral Act.
Under the final version approved before assent, results are to be electronically transmitted after Form EC8A is signed and stamped at polling units, but if electronic transmission fails due to network challenges, the manually signed result form is to be the basis for collation and declaration.
