National Assembly approves electronic transmission of election results

The Senate and the House of Representatives have passed the Electoral Act Amendment Bill and approved the electronic transmission of results.

The National Assembly gave the approval on Tuesday when the lawmakers resumed plenary after a three-week recess.

The Senate in October had bowed to pressure and gave the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) the sole power to determine the mode of transmission of results.

A seven-man conference committee was then constituted by the Senate to meet with members of the House of Representatives Conference Committee to harmonise the differences in the Senate and House versions of the Electoral Act Amendment Bill.

Under a new amendment of Clause 52 (2) of the Electoral Act Amendment Bill, the Senate resolved that “voting at an election and transmission of results under this Bill shall be in accordance with the procedure determined by the Commission, which may include electronic voting.”

INEC’s approval to decide the mode of election result tranmission was a reversal of the Senate’s previous decision that the commission may consider the electronic transmission of results “provided national [network] coverage is adjudged to be adequate and secure” by the Nigerian Communications Commission and approved by the National Assembly.