President Bola Tinubu on Wednesday defended his decision to sign the Electoral Act 2026 (Amendment) into law, insisting that the credibility of elections depends more on proper management and human oversight than on real-time electronic transmission of results.
Speaking at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, shortly after assenting to the amendment, Tinubu downplayed the controversy surrounding live transmission of results from polling units, stressing that elections are ultimately conducted and concluded by people, not computers.
“It’s not as important as the history aspects of this. What is crucial is that you manage the process to prevent confusion and disenfranchisement,” the President said.
He emphasised that while technology can aid the process, final results would always be declared by designated electoral officials. According to him, voting remains largely manual — from ballot issuance and thumb-printing to sorting and counting — with electronic transmission applying only to the arithmetic record captured in Form EC8A after collation.
Tinubu also questioned Nigeria’s broadband capacity to sustain real-time uploads nationwide, warning against technical glitches and cyber vulnerabilities.
The amendment became contentious after the House of Representatives initially passed a version mandating real-time transmission. However, the Senate retained electronic transmission provisions without making live uploads compulsory, allowing manual collation where technology fails.
Under the final version signed into law, results are to be electronically transmitted after Form EC8A is completed and signed at polling units. Where network challenges prevent transmission, the manually signed result will serve as the basis for collation and declaration.
The debate over Clause 60(3) had sparked protests and sharp disagreements within the National Assembly, with opposition parties and civil society groups warning that the fallback provision could create room for manipulation.
