The Nigerian Senate is set to amend the country's Electoral Act to ensure that by 2027, all election results will be transmitted electronically to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) headquarters in Abuja before the final declaration of winners, local media said, citing the lawmakers' communique.
"Make electronic transmission of results mandatory from the next general elections in 2027, including the uploading of polling unit-level results and result sheets used at different levels of result collation," the Senate resolved.
The lawmakers also recommended the introduction of diaspora voting, "at least for presidential elections," to enable Nigerians living abroad to vote for their preferred candidates during elections at home. Moreover, the Senate emphasized that such an initiative would be particularly useful for military, paramilitary, and other security personnel abroad, as well as embassy personnel.
The Senate further advised tougher penalties for any political party that fails to submit a list of party members at least 30 days before an election, primary or convention.
In the run-up to the last general election in late February, the commission repeatedly promised to put polling station results online, but delayed doing so, blaming an unforeseen system failure.
The failure of INEC to promptly upload the results on its portal formed a major part of the petitions filed at the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal by the presidential candidates of the People's Democratic Party and the Labor Party, Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi, challenging the victory of President Bola Tinubu.
However, in early September, the court dismissed their petitions, and the opposition candidates decided to file an appeal.
Tinubu was declared the winner of the presidential election with 37% of the vote. Atiku Abubakar came second with 29%, while Obi came third with 25%.