On Wednesday, the Nigerian Senate passed the 2026 Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill after a heated debate, making significant adjustments to the country's electoral framework. Central to the discussions was Clause 60, which governs the transmission of election results.
Senators decided to retain the provision from the 2022 Electoral Act, allowing results to be transmitted in a manner determined by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), instead of mandating real-time uploads to the IReV portal.
The amended bill still requires presiding officers to record and announce results at polling units and transmit them as directed by INEC, with a fine or imprisonment penalty for officers who contravene the rules.
Despite rejecting the real-time transmission proposal, Senate officials clarified that electronic transmission remains a key feature of the electoral process. Senate President Godswill Akpabio and others emphasized that the amendment focused on practical issues related to the vague definition of “real time,” particularly in areas with poor network coverage.
In addition to the debate over result transmission, the Senate approved significant changes to Nigeria’s electoral calendar. The election notice period was reduced from 360 to 180 days before the expiration of the current administration’s tenure.
Political parties will now have to submit their lists of candidates 90 days before elections, and the deadline for candidate nominations has also been shortened to 90 days.
The Senate also introduced changes to voter accreditation, replacing the smart card reader with the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) while retaining the Permanent Voter Card (PVC) as the sole form of voter identification.
Proposals for alternative voter identification methods, such as electronically generated cards with QR codes, were rejected. Further amendments included a steep increase in fines for electoral offences, such as unlawful possession of voters’ cards, which now carries a penalty of up to ₦5 million.
One of the most far-reaching amendments concerned candidate disqualification and the handling of post-election disputes. The new provisions state that if a disqualified candidate is found to have been elected, a rerun election will be held, excluding both the disqualified candidate and the party that sponsored them. The Senate’s intention was to prevent political parties from circumventing the disqualification process by replacing candidates after elections.
This amendment also aims to address fairness and legitimacy in the electoral process by ensuring that candidates who are disqualified after the election cannot continue to represent the electorate. Senator Adeyemi Adaramodu, in his explanation, emphasized that this new approach would reduce pre-election cases and promote greater transparency. The bill will now be harmonized with the House of Representatives’ version, with a conference committee expected to conclude the process in a month.