The Senate has passed the Electoral Act 2022 (Repeal and Re-enactment) Amendment Bill 2026 through its third reading but declined to approve a proposal that would have made the electronic transmission of election results mandatory.

Lawmakers rejected the proposed amendment to Clause 60, Subsection 3, which sought to compel presiding officers of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to transmit election results electronically, in real time, from each polling unit to the INEC Result Viewing (IREV) portal.

Under the rejected proposal, results would have been transmitted after Form EC8A had been duly signed and stamped by the presiding officer and countersigned by party agents or candidates.

Instead, the Senate adopted the existing provision of the Electoral Act, which states that “the presiding officer shall transfer the results, including the total number of accredited voters and the results of the ballot, in a manner as prescribed by the Commission.”

In his closing remarks, the Senate President, Mr. Godswill Akpabio, denied claims that the upper chamber had rejected electronic transmission of election results.

According to him, “electronic transmission has always been in our Act.”

“What we did was to retain the existing provision, which already makes allowance for electronic transmission,” Mr. Akpabio added.

He further stated that there was no attempt by the Senate to delay or frustrate the passage of the Electoral Act amendment.

Earlier in the proceedings, the Senate rejected a proposal under Clause 22 to impose a 10-year jail term on individuals involved in the buying or selling of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs). Lawmakers instead retained the existing two-year imprisonment term while increasing the fine from ₦2 million to ₦5 million.

The decision was taken on Wednesday during consideration of the clause.

The Senate also amended Clause 28 on the notice of election, reducing the required timeline for INEC to publish a notice of election from 360 days to 180 days before the election date.

Similarly, under Clause 29, lawmakers reduced the timeline for political parties to submit lists of candidates and their affidavits from 180 days to 90 days before a general election.

The amended provision states that “every political party shall, not later than 90 days before the date appointed for a general election under this Act, submit to the Commission, in the prescribed forms, the list of the candidates the party proposes to sponsor at the elections, who shall have emerged from valid primaries conducted by the political party.”

The Senate retained Clause 44 on the format of ballot papers, which requires INEC, not later than 20 days before an election, to invite political parties that nominated candidates to inspect samples of relevant electoral materials.

Political parties are permitted to respond in writing within two days, indicating approval or disapproval of how their identities appear on the samples.

Under Clause 47, lawmakers replaced smart card readers with the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) for voter accreditation and voting. However, after extensive debate, the Senate rejected electronically generated voter identification and retained the Permanent Voter Card as the mode of identification at polling units.

Meanwhile, the Senate struck out Clause 142 on the effect of non-compliance, which had provided that parties alleging non-compliance with the Act would not need to call oral evidence if certified documents sufficiently disclosed such non-compliance.

Lawmakers argued that the provision could lead to unnecessary delays and inefficiencies in court proceedings.

The Senate also announced the constitution of a conference committee, to be chaired by Sen. Tahir Munguno, to harmonise the bill.