The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) does not currently possess the technical capacity to transmit election results electronically, and it may take another two to three years before such a system can be fully implemented, the chairperson of the Senate Ad Hoc Committee reviewing amendments to the Electoral Act has said.
Senator Adeniyi Adegbonmire, who represents Ondo Central Senatorial District on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), made the disclosure on Thursday during an appearance on Arise News.
He insisted that electronic transmission of results can only be effective if INEC first adopts a full e-voting system—something he said the commission is not yet equipped to do.
“People need to understand what real-time means. Real-time transmission can only happen if INEC adopts an e-voting system. For now, INEC does not have the capability for e-voting. Maybe in two or three years, we can adopt e-voting. But as of today, INEC has not put an e-voting system in place,” Adegbonmire said.
The Senator, who is also a Senior Advocate of Nigeria and chairman of the Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters, sought to clarify what he described as widespread misconceptions surrounding the Electoral Act amendment and the role of the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal.
Form EC8A Remains Primary Collation Tool
Adegbonmire explained that under the current legal framework, the presiding officer at each polling unit is required to first manually record election results on Form EC8A. That form, he stressed, remains the primary document of record and would continue to serve as the backbone of result collation regardless of any electronic transmission provisions.
“This is the misconception that the media has brought into. The provision you keep emphasising states that the presiding officer will first enter the result manually in Form EC8A. It is the Form EC8A that has been filled manually and will be transmitted to IReV. If we change ‘transmit’ to ‘upload’ in the Electoral Bill, 2026, will it change anything? The answer is No,” he said.
The lawmaker rejected claims that the Senate had moved to abolish the IReV portal, describing such assertions as either ignorant or deliberately mischievous.
“It is important, first of all, to understand what IReV does because there is a lot of misconception about it or deliberate misrepresentation of what it stands for. The Senate never said INEC should not use IReV for the 2027 elections. So, what is IReV? It is software developed by INEC to publicise the results by INEC.
“IReV is not an e-voting platform as some people think. This is the misinformation some people are peddling. They keep saying, ‘When I want to see my vote.’ But in reality, IReV is a platform meant to publicise election results already declared at the polling units,” he said.
Harmonisation Committee and House Version Debate
Adegbonmire also took aim at those calling on the harmonisation committee to simply adopt the version of the Electoral Act amendment passed by the House of Representatives. He argued that such demands stem from a fundamental misunderstanding of what the House version actually contains.
“This is not an emotional argument. I heard people say the version of the House of Representatives should be adopted. It is a sheer misconception. What does the version say? It simply says the presiding officer shall electronically transmit the result from each polling unit to the IReV portal in real time and such transmission shall be done after Form EC8A has been signed by the presiding officer and countersigned by the candidate or polling agent at the polling unit.
“Whether we call it upload, transfer, or transmission, as far as it says IReV must be used, it will be used in the manner it was configured. That is the point I am making. You must first manually write out the figure. After you have written out the figure at the polling unit, then you can upload, transfer or transmit, depending on the nomenclature we want to use.”
What the Amended Act Provides
The Senate had on Tuesday rescinded its earlier decision that rejected the mandatory electronic transmission of election results from polling units to IReV. The chamber subsequently re-amended the Electoral Act to accommodate electronic transmission—but with a caveat: in the event of internet failure, Form EC8A will serve as the primary means of result collation.
Critics have argued that the amendment still falls short of making electronic transmission mandatory. Adegbonmire, however, maintained that the provision as drafted represents a realistic approach given INEC’s current infrastructure limitations.
A nine-member harmonisation committee has been constituted to reconcile differences between the Senate and House versions of the bill ahead of final passage.
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