A coalition of civil society organisations has raised the alarm over new features introduced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in the management and transmission of election results, warning that they could undermine transparency and public confidence in the electoral process.

The groups, under the aegis of the Nigerian Civil Society Situation Room, expressed particular concern over INEC’s introduction of an electronic EC8A on the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and a new backend validation process before results are published on the INEC Results Viewing Portal (IReV).

In a common position signed by 14 civil society organisations, the coalition said the 2026 Regulations and Guidelines for the Conduct of Elections require polling officials to input result scores into the electronic EC8A on the BVAS, but failed to clearly state where the data would be transmitted or what purpose it would serve.

The groups also questioned the decision to subject transmitted results to what they described as an “unexplained backend validation” before publication on IReV.

The statement was endorsed by the Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room, Accountability Lab Nigeria, Centre for Media and Society, Centre for Journalism, Innovation and Development, CISLAC, Dataphyte, ElectHer, International Press Centre, Inclusive Friends Association, Nigerian Women Trust Fund, TAF Africa, TAP Initiative, The Kukah Center and Yiaga Africa.

According to them, the validation process is not visible to the public, polling agents or election observers, while INEC has yet to explain what is being validated, who conducts the review or how long the process should take.

They warned that the gap between the transmission of results and their eventual publication on IReV could create uncertainty and weaken confidence in the integrity of the electoral process.

The coalition further argued that the introduction of the electronic EC8A could create multiple versions of the same polling-unit result, potentially generating confusion in the event of discrepancies.

It said the physical EC8A, the scanned result uploaded to IReV and retained on the BVAS, and the electronically transmitted e-EC8A could result in different layers of the same result being available within the system.

The CSOs therefore urged INEC to abolish the backend validation of transmitted results before publication on IReV or, at the very least, subject the process to public and independent scrutiny.

They also called on the electoral commission to publish a comprehensive results-transmission protocol that would enable Nigerians to understand the entire results-management process and allow for an independent assessment of the upgraded BVAS and IReV.

The coalition equally demanded the removal of the electronic EC8A from the results-management process, arguing that the additional electronic collation layer could potentially provide advance information on electoral outcomes that compromised officials might exploit to manipulate the process.

“The forthcoming Osun election is a major test of the results-management process,” the groups said, urging Commission to implement their recommendations as evidence of its commitment to transparency, accountability and electoral integrity.