A reversal that did not settle it
The Senate has reinstated electronic transmission of election results from polling units to the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) Result Viewing Portal (IReV).
But the restored provision carries a decisive condition.
Where internet connectivity fails, Form EC8A — the physical polling unit result sheet — becomes the primary source for collation and declaration.
Transmission is permitted.
Real-time certainty is not guaranteed.
The difference now defines the debate.
The clause that may outlive 2027
Form EC8A is not new. It is the original polling unit record completed and signed immediately after votes are counted.
In election tribunals, EC8A has long served as foundational documentary evidence.
Under the amended clause, electronic uploads proceed “as long as it does not fail.” The law does not precisely define failure. It does not outline verification thresholds before reverting to manual reliance.
That ambiguity has shifted the battleground from ballots to interpretation.
Civil society calls it a loaded fallback
A coalition of election observers — including Yiaga Africa, the Centre for Media and Society (CEMESO), the Kukah Centre, the International Press Centre (IPC), ElectHER, Nigerian Women Trust Fund and TAF Africa — has rejected the Electoral Act EC8A caveat.
In a joint statement, the groups warned that embedding conditional language around transmission risks weakening the safeguards introduced in the 2022 reforms.
“Electronic transmission with embedded loopholes undermines electoral integrity,” the statement read.
Their argument is direct: a fallback without strict triggers can become a pathway.
They have urged the Senate’s harmonisation committee to adopt clearer provisions similar to those earlier passed by the House of Representatives.
Lawmakers argue infrastructure cannot be ignored
Senate leaders insist the revision reflects operational reality.
Chief Whip Mohammed Tahir Monguno described the approach as balanced, citing uneven telecommunications coverage across parts of the country.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio framed the amendment as modernisation without technological overreach.
INEC Chairman Prof. Joash Amupitan has cautioned against premature anxiety, noting that harmonisation between both chambers is ongoing and that implementation guidelines will follow.
The Senate’s position is structured around feasibility.
Its critics focus on vulnerability.
The real contest begins before ballots
The Electoral Act EC8A caveat matters because trust in elections rarely collapses at polling units. It fractures during collation.
Advocates of mandatory real-time transmission argue that immediate uploads reduce the window for alteration between polling unit declaration and ward or local government collation centres.
Opponents argue that rigid real-time mandates, given infrastructure gaps, could trigger technical invalidations and post-election chaos.
Both sides invoke credibility.
Only the drafting will determine which side prevails.
This is where the 2027 rules are being written
IDNN is running this story now because the harmonisation phase will lock in the legal architecture governing Nigeria’s next general election.
Once signed into law, definitions embedded in Clause 60(3) will not be rhetorical—they will be enforceable.
If “internet failure” remains undefined, disputes in 2027 may pivot on whether fallback activation was justified rather than whether votes were correctly counted.
The rules are not procedural details.
They are pre-election power lines.
If the language stays vague, the courts decide
Should ambiguity survive harmonisation, the Electoral Act EC8A caveat could become the centrepiece of post-election litigation.
Election petitions may hinge not on arithmetic but on whether transmission was “deemed” to have failed.
A narrowly drafted fallback could stabilise the process.
A loosely framed one could reopen familiar fault lines.
The clause is short.
Its consequences may determine whether 2027 is contested at polling units — or in courtrooms.
This is IDNN. Independent. Digital. Uncompromising.
