The Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP) has faulted the Senate’s decision to reject a proposal seeking mandatory real-time electronic transmission of election results, describing the move as anti-democratic and a threat to credible elections.

“The CNPP expresses profound disappointment and strong condemnation of the Senate’s decision to retain the controversial provision of the Electoral Act 2022 which grants INEC discretionary powers to determine ‘the manner in which results and accreditation data are transferred.’ 

“This decision is unacceptable, anti-democratic, and constitutes a looming national calamity capable of undermining public confidence in Nigeria’s electoral system,” the statement signed on Thursday by CNPP deputy national publicity secretary, James Ezema, read.

The Senate, led by President Godswill Akpabio, on Wednesday passed the Electoral Act, 2022 (Repeal and Re-enactment) Bill, 2026, but refused to adopt an amendment that would have made electronic transmission of results from polling units compulsory.

Instead, lawmakers retained the existing 2022 framework, which allows manual completion, signing, stamping, and physical transfer of results in a manner prescribed by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), without mandating electronic uploads.

The coalition argued that allowing INEC to determine how results are transmitted preserves legal and procedural loopholes that could enable tampering during manual collation between polling units and collation centres.

It warned that the Senate’s position could weaken trust in elections, especially following the October 2023 Supreme Court ruling, which upheld INEC’s broad discretionary powers under the Electoral Act.

According to the group, opposition parties, civil society organisations, and election observers have repeatedly identified manual transmission stages as the most vulnerable points for electoral fraud.

“The discretionary framework leaves significant loopholes that enable potential alteration of election results during manual collation processes between polling units and collation centres. 

“Without mandatory electronic uploads, Nigeria risks institutionalising opportunities for result tampering,” it warned.

The CNPP added that failure to enforce technology-driven result management would worsen voter apathy and deepen public distrust in the democratic process.

“Electoral credibility is anchored on public confidence. Failure to mandate technology-driven result management will inevitably discourage participation and weaken democratic legitimacy,” it said.

The coalition urged the National Assembly’s bipartisan conference committee to adopt the House of Representatives’ version of the amendment bill, which provides for compulsory electronic transmission of polling unit results.

It said the House proposal compels presiding officers to upload results to INEC’s Result Viewing Portal (IReV) in real time immediately after collation, removing what it described as the commission’s discretionary powers over transmission methods.

The CNPP lauded the House for introducing what it called progressive reforms aimed at strengthening transparency and accountability.

“These provisions represent the minimum democratic safeguards required to guarantee credible, transparent, and verifiable elections in Nigeria,” the group said.

It further warned that retaining discretionary transmission rules ignores lessons from the 2023 general elections, which were marred by disputes over delayed and inconsistent uploads of results and triggered widespread litigation.