Nigeria’s National Assembly is advancing deliberations on the Electoral Act (Repeal and Re-enactment) Bill 2025, as lawmakers seek to reconcile differences between Senate and House of Representatives versions of the proposed legislation ahead of the 2027 general election.
The bill has been referred to a Conference Committee comprising members of both chambers, tasked with harmonising the divergent provisions and producing a single draft for final approval. The move signals that legislative work on the bill is approaching its final stages.
The debate surrounding the legislation has drawn widespread public attention, particularly over provisions relating to the electronic transmission of election results. Civil society groups and election stakeholders have described the issue as central to ensuring transparency and credibility in the 2027 polls.
Key Areas of Contention
Three major issues are expected to dominate the reconciliation process: the live electronic transmission of results from polling units, statutory election timelines, and regulations governing political party membership registers and the conduct of primaries, congresses, and conventions.
The controversy over real-time result transmission has generated the most intense public reaction. Advocacy groups argue that mandatory electronic transmission would strengthen accountability and reduce disputes during collation.
The Senate reconvened on February 10, 2026, in part to address public concerns over earlier provisions perceived to weaken electronic transmission requirements. Lawmakers subsequently constituted a 12-member harmonisation committee to engage with their House counterparts.
Divergent Provisions on Result Transmission
At the heart of the disagreement is Section 60(3) of the proposed law.
The House of Representatives version mandates that presiding officers electronically transmit results from each polling unit to the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) Result Viewing Portal (IReV) in real time after completion and signing of Form EC8A.
The Senate’s version similarly requires electronic transmission but introduces a proviso stating that where electronic transmission fails due to communication issues, the manually signed Form EC8A will serve as the primary source for collation and declaration of results.
Critics argue that this proviso may undermine confidence in electronic safeguards by creating ambiguity about which results take precedence.
Legal and Constitutional Considerations
Legal analysts note that any harmonised bill must conform to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, which remains the supreme law. The Supreme Court has previously clarified that INEC’s Result Viewing Portal is not a collation system but a transparency mechanism that allows public access to polling unit results.
Under existing electoral processes, collation occurs at designated centres, where results are aggregated in stages. While results transmitted to IReV are available for public scrutiny, they are not automatically integrated into the formal collation system.
Experts have therefore emphasised that if lawmakers intend to mandate real-time electronic transmission for collation purposes, INEC would need to establish a legally recognised electronic collation infrastructure capable of receiving and processing polling unit results directly.
Calls for Clarity
Stakeholders have urged the Conference Committee to adopt clear and unambiguous language to avoid conflicting interpretations. Some civil society organisations have called for provisions ensuring that electronically transmitted results align with manually recorded results, and that discrepancies be resolved transparently.
Observers caution that while legislative reform is essential, the passage of the bill alone will not guarantee free and fair elections without effective implementation, institutional capacity, and political will.
With the 2027 presidential election scheduled for February 20, 2027, the outcome of the harmonisation process is likely to shape public perception of electoral integrity in the lead-up to the polls. The Conference Committee’s recommendations will determine whether the final version of the Electoral Act strengthens confidence in Nigeria’s democratic process or leaves lingering concerns unresolved.
