Peter Obi joins protest against rejection of e-transmission of election results

Former presidential candidate Peter Obi has joined a group of protesters at the National Assembly on Monday to kick against the Senate’s alleged rejection of e-transmission of election results.

The protesters brandished placards with various inscriptions, including “Take legislative action on Electoral Act Amendment”, Make electronic transmission of election results mandatory”, and “Defend democracy”, among others.

The protesters included civil society organisations, human rights activists, pressure groups and members of opposition political parties.

Meanwhile, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) on Sunday expressed deep concern over the confusion and contradictory narratives emerging from the Senate regarding the amendment to the 2022 Electoral Act, particularly on electronic transmission of results.

In a statement, NLC President Joe Ajaero lamented that public records indicate that the proposed amendment mandating the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to transmit results electronically in real time was not adopted, with the existing discretionary provision retained.

The alleged rejected proposal would have mandated presiding officers of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to electronically transmit polling unit results in real time to the INEC Result Viewing (IREV) portal, immediately after Form EC8A had been duly signed, stamped, and countersigned by party agents.

Instead, the Senate reportedly resolved to retain the existing provision of the Electoral Act, which merely states that “the presiding officer shall transfer the results, including the total number of accredited voters and the results of the ballot, in a manner as prescribed by the Commission.”

“This has generated nationwide apprehension, and subsequent explanations have only added to the confusion,” NLC President Ajaero said.

He urged the National Assembly leadership to ensure the harmonisation process produces a final bill with crystal-clear provisions; “any ambiguity in the transmission and collation of results is a disservice to our democracy,” he said.

He threatened that failure to implement electronic transmission in real time will lead to mass action before, during, and after the election, or to a total boycott of the election.

“Nigerian workers and citizens are watching closely. Our nation must choose the path of clarity and integrity. We need to avoid the same confusion that trailed the new Tax Acts. The time for honest, people-focused legislation is now,” Ajaero said.

Also, the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has urged the National Assembly to vote in favour of the proposed amendment to Clause 60, Subsection 3, of the Electoral Amendment Bill, which seeks to compel the electronic transmission of election results.

This followed the adoption of a report by the President of the Association, Max Afam Osigwe, SAN, at the National Executive Council (NEC) meeting held in Maiduguri, Borno State, on February 5, 2026.

At the meeting, NEC deliberated on the President’s report, which highlighted the Senate’s alleged rejection of a proposed amendment to Clause 60(3) of the Electoral Amendment Bill.

However, the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, has dismissed claims that the Senate has removed e-transmission as a means of transferring election results.

Speaking in Abuja at the unveiling of a book titled “The Burden of Legislators in Nigeria” by former Senator Effiong Bob, Akpabio said electronic transmission remains permissible under the law and that the only adjustment made was the removal of the phrase “real time.”

“I must state clearly, without ambiguity, that the Senate has not removed any means of transmission,” he sai