Civil society organisations on Tuesday returned to the National Assembly for the second day of protests, demanding that lawmakers make real-time electronic transmission of election results mandatory in the proposed Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill 2026.

The protesters, led by ActionAid Nigeria and other civic groups, said their demand was clear: unconditional electronic transmission of results from polling units to the Independent National Electoral Commission’s portal.

The demonstration followed an earlier protest last week over concerns that the Senate version of the amendment bill diluted provisions for real-time transmission, unlike the House version, which civil society groups have endorsed.

Addressing the crowd, the Country Director of ActionAid Nigeria, Andrew Mamedu, insisted that the issue was non-negotiable.

“Real-time electronic transmission of results. Mandatory. Without any condition,” he declared.

Mamedu explained that while reforms have reduced irregularities in voter accreditation, the major vulnerability now lies in the transmission of results. He noted that manipulation often occurs at that stage and must be addressed decisively in the amended law.

Drawing a global comparison, he said Nigeria had no excuse for not adopting the technology.

“India has 980 million registered voters, and they are able to run electronic voting and electronic transmission even though there is no network. They don’t do it with network, but they are able to execute it and get their results,” he said.

Mamedu therefore urged citizens to question their senators and members of the House of Representatives about their positions on mandatory e-transmission, describing it as a simple and reasonable demand.

Also speaking, the Convener of Lawyers in Defence of Democracy and Human Rights, Okere Nnamdi, said the protest represented a “people’s parliament” united behind the House version of the bill. He called on the harmonisation committee of both chambers to adopt the House proposal in its entirety.

“We are calling on the committee of the House of Representatives and the Senate to now harmonise the two versions of the bill, to adopt in totality the House of Representatives version of the 2026 proposed amendment bill,” he said.

Nnamdi warned that civil society groups would challenge the law in court if the final version fell short of the House proposal.

“If anything short of the House of Representatives version is finally endorsed and accepted by the President, I assure you that there will be over 1,000 litigations, public interest cases against the 2026 electoral bill,” he added.

The Chief Executive Officer of TAF Africa, Jake Epelle, who spoke on behalf of persons with disabilities, said credible elections were impossible without real-time transmission of results.

“No real-time transmission is no credible election. Enough is enough,” Epelle said, stressing that citizens would continue to use their voices to demand electoral integrity.

He emphasised that the struggle was about protecting Nigerians’ democratic rights and ensuring that elected officials reflect the genuine will of the people.

The protesters maintained that mandatory electronic transmission would promote transparency, create a level playing field for political actors, and restore confidence in Nigeria’s electoral system.

They also vowed to sustain pressure on lawmakers as the National Assembly works to harmonise the Senate and House versions of the amendment bill.