Protest resumes at National Assembly over e-transmission of results

Protesters returned to the National Assembly on Monday to demand that real-time electronic transmission of election results be made mandatory in the Electoral Act Amendment Bill, 2026.

Civil society groups, including Situation Room and ActionAid, led the demonstrations, insisting that manual collation of results be completely eliminated to prevent manipulation during the collation process.

Security operatives reportedly barricaded entrances to the complex, forcing demonstrators to hold their protest outside the National Assembly gates.

The activists argued that there is no justification for manual backups since the election budget already covers the technological requirements for real-time transmission.

The protest follows a five-day break after assurances from the National Assembly during its last Tuesday sitting. The Senate had reconvened for an emergency plenary to revisit Clause 60(3) of the Electoral Act Amendment Bill. Senate Chief Whip, Senator Tahir Monguno (APC, Borno North), had proposed replacing the phrase “real-time” with “transfer” and removing “transmission,” prompting objections from other senators, including Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe (APGA, Abia South).

Ultimately, the Senate approved electronic transmission to INEC’s Result Viewing Portal while retaining manual collation as a backup in the event of technical failures.

The Senate is scheduled to reconvene on Tuesday, February 17, at 11 a.m. to address further national issues.