President Bola Tinubu has clarified that Nigeria’s electoral system will continue to operate primarily through manual voting and result collation, despite amendments that formally recognise electronic viewing of polling unit results.
The President signed into law the Electoral Act 2022 (Repeal and Re-enactment) Bill 2026 during a ceremony at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, witnessed by National Assembly leadership including Senate President Godswill Akpabio and Speaker of the House of Representatives Tajudeen Abbas.
Addressing attendees, Tinubu stated that the amendments were designed to eliminate ambiguity in the electoral process and ensure that no Nigerian voter is disenfranchised.
He stressed that, regardless of technological enhancements, elections are ultimately conducted and concluded by human officials. According to him, the final declaration of results remains a human responsibility, not a computerized function.
The President reiterated that the act of voting itself continues to be manual. Ballot papers are issued physically at polling units, votes are cast in person, and sorting and counting are conducted manually before results are announced.
Tinubu also raised questions about Nigeria’s broadband infrastructure and whether the country possesses the capacity to support uninterrupted real-time electronic transmission nationwide. He cautioned against exposure to cyber vulnerabilities, noting the risks of system glitches or malicious interference.
Senate President Akpabio described the amendment as comprehensive and tailored to Nigeria’s specific realities. He confirmed that the law now formally acknowledges the Independent National Electoral Commission’s Result Viewing (IReV) portal as a platform for electronic viewing of polling unit outcomes.
He further explained that in areas lacking network connectivity, Form EC8A — signed at the polling unit by the presiding officer, party agents, and security officials — remains the primary collation document. Once connectivity becomes available, results can then be uploaded for public access via the portal.
According to Akpabio, the revised framework addresses longstanding concerns over result tampering during movement from polling units to collation centers.
Speaker Abbas noted another significant adjustment: the statutory notice period for elections has been reduced from 360 days to 300 days. This change, he explained, could facilitate scheduling presidential and National Assembly elections in January 2027, thereby avoiding overlap with Ramadan and mitigating potential voter apathy.
