The Senate has defended its decision to make the electronic transmission of election results discretionary rather than mandatory in the ongoing reform of Nigeria’s electoral governance framework, stating that the move was guided by empirical data.

The upper chamber said its position was informed by the country’s infrastructural realities, not by emotion or sentiment, following consultations with key stakeholders in the communications and power sectors, among others.

The Leader of the Senate, Sen. Opeyemi Bamidele, clarified the chamber’s position in a statement issued on Sunday by his Directorate of Media and Public Affairs. He stressed that law-making “comes with huge obligations globally, and the Senate cannot discharge such responsibilities to the detriment of the citizenry”.

The Senate had earlier resolved against Clause 60(3) of the Electoral Bill, 2026, which provides that the presiding officer “shall electronically transmit the results from each polling unit to INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV) in real time…”.

Subsequently, the chamber reviewed the contentious clause in a bid to strengthen electronic transmission in line with public demand, but with a caveat that, in the event of internet failure, Form EC8A would serve as the primary means of result collation.

In his statement, Sen. Bamidele described Clause 60(3) as “an initiative that any legislature or parliament globally will have embraced ordinarily”, noting its potential to deepen trust in democratic institutions, particularly the National Assembly and the Independent National Electoral Commission.

However, he said the Senate also considered the limitations posed by Nigeria’s communications and power infrastructure, which, he argued, could not guarantee real-time electronic transmission as envisaged by some stakeholders.

Citing data from the Nigerian Communications Commission, he stated that Nigeria achieved about 70 per cent broadband coverage in 2025, while internet user penetration stood at 44.53 per cent of the population within the same period.

He also referenced the Speedtest Global Index, which ranked Nigeria 85th out of 105 countries in mobile network reliability and 129th out of 150 countries in fixed broadband reliability.

“Based on the Speedtest Global Index, Nigeria’s mobile network reliability was 44.14 megabits per second. This is extremely low compared with the UAE, which has 691.76 mbps; Qatar, with 573.53 mbps; Kuwait’s 415.67 mbps; Bahrain’s 303.21 mbps; and Bulgaria’s 289.41 mbps. The Index placed Nigeria far below the global average.

“Nigeria’s fixed internet broadband rating is quite low by global standards. Out of 150 countries, Nigeria occupied the 129th position with only 33.32 mbps. In this rating, Singapore came first with 410.06 mbps, followed by the UAE’s 382.35 mbps; France’s 346.25 mbps; Chile’s 348.41 mbps; and Hong Kong’s 345.25 mbps,” he said.

The Senate leader also cited official data indicating that at least 85 million Nigerians still lack access to grid electricity, representing about 43 per cent of the population.

“This shortfall speaks to the state of our power infrastructure. Even though our generation capacity hovers between 12,000 and 13,500 megawatts, our distribution and transmission capacity is acutely limited.

“As we all know, it can only deliver 4,500 megawatts to households nationwide. But with the Electricity Act, 2025, our power sector will record significant growth from this financial year,” the lawmaker added.

Sen. Bamidele expressed doubt about the practicability of real-time electronic transmission of election results under current conditions, warning that making such a provision mandatory could plunge the country into crisis.

“By global standards, real-time electronic transmission of election results may not be practicable at this stage of our development.

“To avoid a situation that compounds our country’s woes, it is better we make it discretionary since Section 62(2) of the Electoral Act, 2022 has already established the National Electronic Register of Election Results.

“All these facts were before us for consideration before we initially decided to retain Section 60(3 & 5) of the Electoral Act, 2022, in the interest of the people and security. The data speak directly to the stark realities of our federation, not to emotion or sentiment.

“We recognise that law-making globally comes with huge responsibilities. As representatives of the people, we cannot enact laws based purely on public emotion or sentiment. These are grave obligations that the Constitution places upon us, and we cannot discharge them to the detriment of the citizenry,” he said.

He further stated: “In democracy, law-making sits at the heart of public governance. Indeed, it is the lifeblood that flows through all public institutions. It does not respond to mere emotion or sentiment, but to facts, proofs, or realities that can define or distort the future of our political system. If our law does not capture the realities of the federation, then it is a script for anarchy or a ploy for instability.

“This deduction guided the decision of the Senate to redraft Clause 60(3 & 5) with a caveat, while at the same time addressing the concerns of our people nationwide substantially. The caveat, in this case, is the outright deletion of ‘real time’ from the clause, so that we do not end up with an electoral governance framework that cannot respond to the stark realities of our fatherland.”

The clause on electronic transmission had generated controversy and sparked demonstrations by some Nigerians, including opposition figures such as former presidential candidate, Peter Obi, and former Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi. It also prompted the Senate to convene an emergency session to address grey areas in the legislation.