President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Wednesday defended his decision to sign the Electoral Act 2026 (Amendment) Bill into law, stating that the credibility of elections rests more on proper management and human oversight than on real-time electronic transmission of results.
Speaking shortly after assenting to the amendment at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, the President addressed ongoing debate over whether election results should be transmitted live from polling units to a central server.
According to him, while technology plays an important role, the integrity of the electoral process ultimately depends on transparency, accountability and effective supervision.
“It’s not as important as the historic aspects of this. What is crucial is that you manage the process to the extent that there will be no confusion, no disenfranchisement of Nigerians, and that we are all going to see democracy flourish,” Tinubu said.
He emphasised that elections, regardless of technological enhancements, are conducted and concluded by people.
“No matter how good the system is, it’s managed by the people, promoted by the people, and the result is finalised by the people,” he added.
On the contentious issue of electronic transmission, the President noted that final results would still be declared by designated electoral officials, not computers. He urged Nigerians to also consider the country’s broadband capacity and technical readiness in evaluating the feasibility of mandatory real-time uploads.
“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,” he stated.
Tinubu reiterated that voting remains fundamentally manual — from ballot issuance to thumbprinting and counting — stressing that electronic transmission primarily concerns the transfer of results already recorded on Form EC8A after manual collation.
“It’s essentially manual. The transmission of that manual result is what we’re looking at. And we need to avoid glitches, interference, unnecessary hacking in this age of computer inquisitiveness,” he said.
The amendment to the Electoral Act had generated intense public and legislative debate, particularly over Clause 60(3), which addresses the transmission of results.
The House of Representatives initially passed a version mandating real-time electronic transmission from polling units. However, the Senate retained provisions for electronic transmission but stopped short of making real-time uploads compulsory, allowing manually signed result forms to serve as the basis for collation where technological failures occur.
The differing positions sparked criticism from opposition parties, civil society organisations and electoral reform advocates, as well as 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 completed, signed and stamped at polling units. Where electronic transmission fails due to network challenges, the manually signed result form will serve as the official basis for collation and declaration.
The President expressed confidence that Nigeria would continue to strengthen its democratic institutions, assuring that the nation would “nurture this democracy for the fulfillment of our dream for prosperity and stability.”
