The Senate has passed the Electoral Act 2022 (Repeal and Reenactment) Amendment Bill 2026 at the third reading, maintaining provisions for the transmission of election results while rejecting a proposed amendment that would have made electronic transmission mandatory.
The rejected clause, Clause 60, Subsection 3, sought to require presiding officers of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to electronically transmit results from each polling unit to the IREV portal in real time, immediately after the prescribed Form EC&A had been signed, stamped, and countersigned by candidates.
Instead of adopting the amendment, the Senate retained the existing provision in the Electoral Act, which states that “the presiding officer shall transfer the results, including the total number of accredited voters and the results of the ballot, in a manner as prescribed by the Commission.”
Senate President Godswill Akpabio clarified in his closing remarks that the decision did not amount to rejecting electronic transmission of results.
“Electronic transmission has always been in our act,” he said, adding, “What he did was retain the existing provision, which already makes provision for electronic transmission.”
He emphasized that there was no intention to delay or frustrate the passage of the Electoral Act.
READ MORE: Senate Delaying Electoral Act Risks Repeat of 2023 Election Chaos — Sam Amadi Warns
Earlier, the upper chamber rejected a proposed 10-year jail term for buyers and sellers of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) under Clause 22, opting instead to retain a two-year imprisonment term while increasing the fine from ₦2 million to ₦5 million.
The decision was taken on Wednesday during consideration of Clause 22 of the Electoral Amendment Bill.
The lawmakers also amended Clause 28 on the notice of election, reducing the timeline from 360 days to 180 days.
The original provision required the commission to publish a notice of election in each state of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory not later than 360 days before the election date.
In Clause 29, the Senate reduced the timeline for the submission of lists of candidates and their affidavits by political parties from 180 days to 90 days.
The amended provision states that “every political party shall, not later than 90 days before the date appointed for a general election under this Act, submit to the Commission, in the prescribed forms, the list of the candidates the party proposes to sponsor at the elections, who shall have emerged from valid primaries conducted by the political party.”
The Senate also retained the provision on the format of ballot papers contained in Clause 44.
Under the clause, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is required, not later than 20 days before an election, to invite in writing any political party that nominated a candidate to inspect its identity on samples of relevant electoral materials.
Political parties are allowed to respond in writing within two days, indicating approval or disapproval of how their identity appears on the samples.
Under Clause 47, the Senate replaced smart card readers with the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) for accreditation and voting.
However, after extensive debate, lawmakers rejected electronically generated voter identification and adopted the Permanent Voter Card as the mode of identification at polling units.
Meanwhile, the Senate struck out Clause 142 on the effect of non-compliance, which provided that “it shall not be necessary for a party who alleges non-compliance with the provisions of this Bill for the conduct of elections to call oral evidence if originals or certified true copies of relevant documents manifestly disclose the non-compliance alleged.”
The provision was removed following arguments that it would amount to a waste of time in court.
The Senate also announced the setup of a conference committee to be chaired by Senator Tahir Munguno.
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