Sen. Kenneth Eze, representing Ebonyi Central Senatorial District in the National Assembly, says Nigeria currently lacks the technological infrastructure required to guarantee seamless real-time electronic transmission of election results.
Eze stated this on Sunday during a media briefing in his country home at Ohigbo-Amagu, in Ezza South Local Government Area of Ebonyi.
Eze addressed contentious issues surrounding the ongoing amendments to the Electoral Act 2022, particularly provisions relating to the collation and transmission of results ahead of the 2027 general elections.
He said that as a developing nation, Nigeria did not yet possess the comprehensive technological framework to support and guarantee seamless real-time transmission of election results electronically.
According to him, those advocating full real-time electronic transmission for the 2027 elections are not taking into account prevailing infrastructural realities.
“The ongoing electoral law amendments in the National Assembly, especially on the area of collation and transmission of results from polling units, have generated some contentious debates in recent days, and it should not be so.
“The reform is based on practical experiences and occurrences from previous elections. We are in the National Assembly to make good laws for the good of the country.
“In looking at collation and transmission of results, we must ask ourselves: do we have the technological infrastructure to support real-time transmission of our election results to the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal?
“When you look at Nigeria today, you talk about steady power supply and its sustainability. Do we have a steady power source and other basic infrastructure to support such innovation?” he asked.
Eze noted that while electronic transmission of results remained desirable, laws must be implementable and reflective of prevailing realities.
“By and large, we are still a developing country. You cannot talk about real-time electronic transmission of results without first doing electronic voting. The ballot paper would need to be embedded with a microchip so that as you vote, it transmits in real time,” he said.
He explained that once voting is conducted using paper ballots, and results are later counted and entered into Form EC8A before transmission, the process cannot be described as real-time.
“Real-time means that as you thumbprint, it is automatically transmitted to the server without any intermediate process. Once you wait for counting, collation and manual entry into result sheets, time has already elapsed,” he added.
The senator, however, clarified that the Senate had neither rejected nor opposed electronic transmission of results, but was focused on adopting a system that is practicable, seamless and capable of improving on existing mechanisms.
He disclosed that the proposed amendments to the Electoral Act would make the use of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) mandatory, while abolishing manual accreditation.
According to him, results from any polling unit will automatically be invalidated if the number of votes cast exceeds the number of accredited voters captured by the BVAS device.
Eze recalled that logistical and power supply challenges affected aspects of the 2023 general elections, noting that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) provided only one generating set per Registration Area Centre (RAC), rather than for each polling unit.
“It is obvious that during the last election, INEC fell short in logistics. Generators were provided at collation centres, but not at all polling units.
“The BVAS machine requires electric power. Many ad hoc officials arrived at polling units with devices that were not fully charged. After some time, the machines went off, affecting accreditation and transmission processes,” he said.
The lawmaker urged citizens to have faith in the ability of the National Assembly to enact credible laws that would strengthen the integrity and transparency of elections.
He stressed that lawmakers were not afraid of technological advancement, but were more concerned about adopting measures that were feasible under current conditions.
On party primaries, Eze said the proposed amendments also provide for direct primaries by political parties, as against the indirect delegate system.
He described the reform as a “game-changer,” aimed at deepening internal democracy within political parties.
“We have tried to return power to party members. Under the proposed law, there is nothing like party supremacy in candidate selection.
“What we are saying is that political parties should conduct direct primaries so aspirants can test their popularity in the field, instead of relying on a few delegates.
“If a candidate wins a primary and the outcome is manipulated, the law will designate a Federal High Court to handle such disputes expeditiously,” he said.
Our correspondent reports that debates over electronic transmission of results intensified after the 2023 general elections, during which INEC deployed the BVAS for accreditation and introduced the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal for uploading polling unit results.
While INEC described the 2023 election as a significant technological improvement over previous polls, some stakeholders raised concerns over delayed uploads and technical glitches experienced in parts of the country.
The National Assembly is currently reviewing sections of the Electoral Act 2022 to address operational challenges observed in previous elections and to strengthen the legal framework ahead of the 2027 general elections.
