The Senate has released the empirical data that guided its decision to make electronic transmission of election results discretionary rather than mandatory in the ongoing reform of our nation's electoral governance framework.
The Upper House said the decision was based on the harsh realities of the country and not on sentiments after due consultation and engagement with key actors in the country's communications and power sectors.
Senate leader, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, on Sunday clarified the position of the upper chamber through his Media and Public Affairs Directorate, saying that law making “comes with huge responsibilities at the global level, and the Senate cannot discharge such responsibilities to the detriment of citizens.”
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The Senate had passed a resolution against section 60(3) of the Election Bill, 2026. In specific terms, the clause stipulates that the Presiding Officer “shall electronically transmit the results from each polling unit in real time to the INEC Results Viewing Portal (IREV)…”
The Senate later reviewed the controversial clause to further strengthen the electronic transmission of results in line with public demand, although with a caveat that in the event of Internet failure, Form EC8A would serve as the primary means of result tallying.
In his statement on Sunday, Bamidele said Section 60(3) of the Electoral Bill, 2026 “is an initiative that any legislature or parliament globally would ordinarily adopt”, citing its potential to deepen confidence in democratic institutions, particularly the National Assembly and INEC.
However, Bamidele said the Senate looked at the other side of Section 60(3) of the Elections Bill 2026, which revealed that the country's communication and power infrastructure will not guarantee real-time electronic transmission of election results as envisaged by some stakeholders.
Citing figures from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Bamidele said Nigeria had only achieved 70% broadband coverage in 2025, while its internet user penetration stood at only 44.53% of the population within the same time frame.
Bamidele equally cited the Speedtest Global Index, which ranked Nigeria 85th out of 105 countries in mobile network reliability and 129th out of 150 countries in fixed internet broadband reliability.
He added: “Based on the Speedtest Global Index, Nigeria's mobile network reliability was 44.14 megabits per second. This is extremely low compared to the UAE, which has 691.76 Mbps; Qatar has 573.53 Mbps; Kuwait has 415.67 Mbps; Bahrain has 303.21 Mbps and Bulgaria has 289.41 Mbps. The index said Nigeria is placed far below the global average.
“Nigeria's fixed internet broadband rating is well below the global standard. Out of 150 countries, Nigeria ranked 129th with only 33.32 Mbps. In this rating, Singapore came first with 410.06 Mbps, followed by UAE at 382.35 Mbps; France at 346.25 Mbps, Chile at 348.41 Mbps and Hong Kong's is 345.25 Mbps.
The Senate leader, also cited official data which revealed the state of electricity infrastructure, indicating that at least 85 million Nigerians “still do not have access to grid electricity”. This figure amounts to about 43% of the population.
“This shortfall speaks volumes about the state of our power infrastructure. Even though our generation capacity is approximately between 12,000 and 13,500 MW, our distribution and transmission capacity is extremely limited. As we all know, it can deliver only 4,500 MW to households across the country. But with the Electricity Act, 2025, our power sector will register significant growth from this financial year.”
With these conditions of the country's communications and power infrastructure, Bamidele doubted the practicality of real-time electronic transmission of election results, noting that making such a provision mandatory could plunge the country into crisis.
According to global standards, Bamidele said real-time electronic transmission of election results “may not be practical at this stage of our development. To avoid a situation that adds to the problems of our country, it would be better if we make it discretionary as Section 62(2) of the Electoral Act, 2022 has already established the National Electronic Register of Election Results.
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“All these facts were before us for consideration before taking a decision to retain Section 60(3$5) of the Election Act, 2022 in the interest of the people and security. The data speaks directly to the harsh realities of our federation, and not to sentiment or sentiment.
“We believe that making laws globally comes with great responsibilities. As representatives of the people, we cannot make laws based solely on public sentiment or sentiments. These are huge obligations that the Constitution places on all of us, and we cannot discharge responsibilities to the detriment of the citizens.”
“In a democracy, law making is at the heart of public governance. In fact, it is its lifestream that flows freely in the veins of all public institutions. It does not react to mere sentiments or emotions, but to facts, evidence or realities that can define or distort the future of our political system. If our law does not capture the realities of the union, it is a script of anarchy or a ploy for instability.
“This cut guided the Senate's decision to redraft section 60 (3 and 5) with a caveat, as well as substantially address the concerns of our people across the country. The caveat, in this case, is to completely remove 'real time' from the clause so that we do not end up with an electoral governance framework that cannot respond to the harsh realities of our fatherland.”
