Senator representing Anambra Central, Victor Umeh, has clarified that the Senate unanimously approved electronic transmission of election results in the proposed Electoral Act amendments, contrary to reports suggesting lawmakers had endorsed only a “transfer” of results.
Umeh made the remarks on Thursday as a guest on Channels Television’s Politics Today, amid public confusion over the Senate’s consideration of the Electoral Act Amendment Bill 2026.
He explained that the legislative process for the amendment was extensive and deliberate, involving multiple readings, zonal public hearings, stakeholder consultations, and a joint committee report from the National Assembly.
“It takes a process to make a law. A bill must go through readings, public hearings and consultations before debate and passage. Laws are not made for the sake of it; they are made to solve problems,” Umeh said.
The push for electronic transmission
According to the senator, the amendment to Section 60 of the Electoral Act 2022, which addresses the transmission of election results, emerged as a major public demand nationwide. The issue became critical following the 2023 general elections, which were widely disputed and eventually litigated up to the Supreme Court.
“During the presidential election cases, arguments were raised on whether results uploaded to the IReV portal had legal backing. The Supreme Court held that electronic transmission was not expressly provided for in the law and discountenanced such evidence,” he explained.
Umeh said stakeholders largely agreed that the law must be amended to legally recognise electronic transmission, ensuring courts would not again dismiss electronically transmitted results as “unknown to law.” Both chambers of the National Assembly worked independently on the amendment, with the House of Representatives passing a version explicitly allowing electronic transmission.
‘85% agreement’ in the Senate
When the Senate considered the bill in a closed executive session, there was overwhelming support for electronic transmission.
“Over 85 per cent of senators agreed to electronic transmission. It was common ground. Even the ad hoc committee of the Senate agreed to it,” Umeh said.
The only modification during the session was the removal of the phrase “in real time”, due to concerns about network challenges in some areas. Transmission itself was never disputed.
Confusion arose during plenary when a motion reportedly sought to replace the word “transmission” with “transfer” without debate.
“It was only ‘real time’ that was expunged because of network issues. Transmission itself was never in dispute. You cannot talk about transfer to the IReV portal without electronic transmission. How do you transfer to a portal if it is not done electronically?” Umeh stressed.
He insisted that the Senate never agreed to revert to the 2022 wording, which referred only to the “transfer” of results.
Public outcry and next steps
Addressing public outcry, Umeh said Nigerians’ reactions showed that the plenary’s outcome did not reflect what had been debated and agreed upon in executive sessions.
He noted that the legislative process is not yet complete, as the Senate has not approved the Votes and Proceedings from the sitting.
“It is only approved proceedings that go to the conference committee for harmonisation. When we return to approve the Votes and Proceedings, the question will be asked whether it truly reflects what we did. I believe the agreed position on electronic transmission will be restored,” Umeh said.
What the Senate passed
On Tuesday, the Senate passed the Electoral Act Amendment Bill 2026, retaining the current provision allowing INEC to transfer results as it deems fit rather than making electronic transmission mandatory. The bill also shortened election timelines, adopted the BVAS while keeping the PVC as the sole voter ID, reduced penalties for PVC trading to two years in jail with a ₦5m fine, and set up a conference committee to harmonise the bill with the House of Representatives.
