•Protesters at NASS
Protesters today returned to the National Assembly, calling on lawmakers to make real-time electronic transmission of election results compulsory in the Electoral Act Amendment Bill, 2026.
The demonstrators, drawn from civil society groups including Situation Room Nigeria and ActionAid Nigeria, insisted that manual collation of results should be completely removed from the electoral process to prevent manipulation at collation centres, reports Vanguard.
They argued that full transparency can only be guaranteed if results are transmitted electronically in real time from polling units, without any fallback to manual procedures.
The protest followed a five-day pause in demonstrations after assurances given to the groups during last Tuesday’s Senate sitting.
Security operatives barricaded the entrances to the National Assembly complex, forcing the protesters to stage the demonstration outside the main gates.
The protesters maintained that there was no justification for retaining manual backups, noting that funds allocated for elections already cover the technological infrastructure required for electronic transmission of results.
The renewed protest comes amid recent controversy in the Senate over Clause 60(3) of the Electoral Act Amendment Bill.
Last Tuesday, the Senate reconvened for an emergency plenary to revisit its earlier position on the clause. During the session, the Senate Chief Whip, Tahir Monguno, moved a proposal to remove the phrase “real-time” and replace the word “transmission” with “transfer”.
The move triggered strong objections on the floor of the chamber, including from Enyinnaya Abaribe, who repeatedly raised points of order.
At the end of the debate, lawmakers approved electronic transmission of results to INEC’s Result Viewing Portal but retained manual collation as a backup in the event of technical failures.
The Senate is scheduled to reconvene on Tuesday, February 17, at 11 a.m. to consider other national matters.
However, the protesters vowed to sustain pressure on lawmakers, insisting that they would not back down until real-time electronic transmission of election results is fully guaranteed in the amended law.
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