By Ovasa Ogaga,
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Wednesday defended his decision to sign the Electoral Act 2026 (Amendment) into law, stating that the integrity of elections rests more on effective process management and human oversight than on mandatory real-time electronic transmission of results.
Speaking shortly after assenting to the amendment at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, Tinubu downplayed the centrality of live result uploads, saying: “It’s not as important as the historical aspects of this. What is crucial is the fact that you manage the process to the extent there will be no confusion, no disenfranchisement of Nigerians, and that we are all going to see democracy flourish.”
He emphasised that elections, regardless of technological enhancements, are ultimately conducted by people. “No matter how good the system is, it’s managed by the people, promoted by the people, and the people finalise the result,” the President said.
Addressing debates surrounding electronic transmission, Tinubu noted that designated officials, not machines, declare final outcomes. “In fact, for final results, you are not going to be talking to the computer; you are going to be talking to human beings who will announce the final results.
“And when you look at the crux of various arguments, maybe Nigerians should question our broadband capability. How technically are we today? How technically will we be tomorrow to answer the call of either real-time or not?”
Tinubu reiterated that voting procedures remain fundamentally manual. “And as long as you appear personally, as a manual voter in any polling booth, a ballot paper is given to you manually, you decide in a corner and thumbprint the person of your choice, you cast your votes, without hindrance and any interference, ballots are subsequently counted manually, sorted, and counted manually,” he added.
According to him, electronic transmission concerns the arithmetic record documented after manual collation. “It’s just the arithmetic accuracy that is to enter into Form EC8A. It’s the manual, essentially. The transmission of that manual result is what we’re looking at.
“And we need to avoid glitches — I’m glad you did — interference, unnecessary hacking in this age of computer inquisitiveness.
“Nigeria will be there. We will flourish. We will continue to nurture this democracy for the fulfilment of our dream for the prosperity and stability of our country,” the President added.
The amendment had sparked intense public and legislative debate over whether election results should be transmitted electronically in real time from polling units to the Independent National Electoral Commission's central server.
While the House of Representatives passed a version mandating real-time electronic transmission, the Senate retained electronic transmission provisions but stopped short of making live uploads compulsory, instead allowing manual collation as a fallback where technology fails.
The Senate’s position drew criticism from opposition parties, civil society groups and reform advocates, who argued that the clause left room for ambiguity. The disagreement triggered protests and walkouts within the National Assembly.
Under the final version signed into law, results are to be electronically transmitted after Form EC8A is duly signed and stamped at polling units. However, where electronic transmission fails due to network challenges, the manually authenticated result form will serve as the basis for collation and declaration.
