Mike Igini, a former Resident Electoral Commissioner for the Independent National Electoral Commission, called the current argument over sending election results electronically a “painful and sad reality.” He said the problem should have been settled years ago.
Igini talked about what he considered a setback in Nigeria’s efforts to modernize its elections on Channels Television yesterday.
“It’s painful and sad that after years of working together to make the ballots the best way for people to express their will in a democracy, we’re back to where we started, years after what was supposed to have been settled,” he said, referring to changes that started under the leadership of former INEC chairman Attahiru Jega and continued under other leaders.
The former REC also said that he was personally frustrated with the current condition of electoral reforms, saying that after three decades of fighting for them and approximately 10 years working for the Commission, recent events make those efforts feel “wasted.”
The lawyer also said that the election body itself had mostly been ignored.
“This discussion doesn’t include INEC. INEC is alone. The group is supposed to talk about elections, he said, adding that the commission had already talked about problems with electronic transmission.
He said that bringing back uncertainties over electronic transmission could make things very difficult before the 2027 general elections. He stressed that politicians need to learn from what has happened in the past.
Igini also asked that the Result Viewing portal (IReV) be given explicit legal support and that worries about network limits shouldn’t stop reforms from happening.
Amendment to the Electoral Act
The discussion comes after the Senate looked at changes to the Electoral Act 2022. These changes caused a lot of anger when MPs turned down a plan to make real-time electronic transmission of results mandatory.
The argument started on February 4 when the Senate enacted an amendment bill that changed a number of things, including shortening the time frame for INEC to publish election notices from 360 days to 180 days.
Clause 60(3) was at the heart of the disagreement. It tried to force presiding officers to transmit polling-unit results to the IReV portal electronically right after filling out Form EC8A. This would have made e-transmission a legal requirement.
The Senate, on the other hand, first turned down the clause, keeping the part that lets INEC decide how to send the results.
Civil society groups, first by Peter Obi and later supported by Rotimi Amaechi and Aisha Yesufu, protested in the National Assembly after the move.
The House of Representatives passed the mandatory transmission clause, but the Senate changed its mind during an extraordinary plenary on February 10. They approved electronic transmission but kept manual collation as a backup plan in case of a technological breakdown.
Senator Tahir Monguno sponsored the amendment bill, while Minority Leader Abba Moro supported it. It passed by voice vote, and both chambers are expected to work together to make their versions the same before it becomes law.
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