By Nchetachi Chukwuajah
The Senate has clarified that electronic transmission of results should not be misconstrued as the adoption of an e-voting system, noting that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) does not currently possess the capacity to conduct electronic voting.
Chairman of the Senate Ad-hoc Committee reviewing the 2026 Electoral Bill, Senator Adeniyi Adegbonmire, made the clarification during an interview on Arise News on Thursday, February 12.
The clarification comes amid controversy over the National Assembly’s handling of provisions relating to result transmission and the use of the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV).
The senator noted that IReV “is not an e-voting platform, but a platform where the election results that have been manually counted and declared at the polling units are uploaded and publicised.”
Speaking on the decision of the Senate with regard to the transmission of election results, Adegbonmire said, contrary to insinuations in some quarters, Nigeria had not transitioned to an electronic voting regime.
He said, “People need to understand what real-time means. Real-time transmission can only happen if the INEC adopts an e-voting system. For now, INEC does not have the capability for e-voting. Maybe in two or three years, we can adopt e-voting. But as of today, INEC has not put an e-voting system in place.”
The senator described the controversy as fuelled by misinformation, adding that the misconceptions surrounding IReV must be corrected.
“This is the misconception that the media has brought into play. The provision you keep emphasising says the presiding officer will first fill in the result manually in Form EC8A. It is the form that has been filled out manually and will be transmitted to IReV. If we change ‘transmit’ to ‘upload’ in the Electoral Bill, 2026, will it change anything? The answer is No.”
The lawmaker further clarified what the IReV system is meant to do, stressing that it is meant for publishing already declared election results and not a voting platform.
He added that IReV “is not a voting platform. Rather, it is a platform meant to publicise election results already declared by the presiding officers at polling units across the federation.
“It is important, first of all, to understand what IReV does because there is a lot of misconception about it or deliberate misrepresentation of what it stands for. The Senate never said INEC should not use IReV for the 2027 elections. So, what is IReV? It is software developed by INEC to publicise the results by INEC.
“IReV is not an e-voting platform as some people think. This is the misinformation some people are peddling. They keep saying when I want to see my vote. But in reality, IReV is a platform meant to publicise election results already declared at the polling units,” he said.
Adegbonmire further argued that the National Assembly could not alter the configuration of INEC’s software through legislation.
“IReV, as an electronic platform to display election results, had a pattern of working, and the National Assembly cannot change the software by mere legislation. It was a sheer misconception to conclude that the Senate declined the use of IReV for the transmission of election results.
“Whether we call it upload, transfer, or transmission, as far as it says IReV must be used, it will be used in the manner it was configured. That is the point I am making. You must first manually write out the figure. After you have written out the figure at the polling unit, you can upload, transfer, or transmit, depending on the nomenclature we want to use,” he added.
The lawmaker cited logistical reasons as a challenge that could hinder simultaneous nationwide elections, noting that electoral materials are often transported days in advance and distributed to difficult terrains, including riverine communities that require hours of travel by road or boat.
Adegbonmire stressed these disparities must be considered in electoral reforms, adding that the Senate sought to avoid rigid timelines that could fuel suspicion where uploads are delayed due to network or logistical issues.
