Thirteen senators, led by Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, have dismissed widespread claims that the Senate rejected the provision on real-time electronic transmission of election results, insisting that the clause was in fact passed at plenary on Wednesday.
The senators addressed journalists in Abuja on Thursday amid public outrage and controversy triggered by reports suggesting that the upper chamber had dropped Clause 60(3) of the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill, 2026, which deals with electronic transmission of results.
The reports had claimed that the Senate rejected a proposed amendment seeking to make the electronic transmission of results from polling units mandatory, opting instead to retain the existing provision of the Electoral Act 2022, which 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.”
However, Abaribe said such reports were inaccurate and misleading, stressing that the Senate did not vote against electronic transmission of results.
“What we passed, and which the Senate President himself, when he was making clarification, confirmed, is transmission of electronic results,” Abaribe said.
He explained that the senators were compelled to speak publicly because of what he described as a serious misunderstanding of the Senate’s action.
“I need to make this very clear: every one of us who is a senator, who has the privilege to represent a senatorial district, came here under the trust of their senatorial zones, and each one of them holds a public trust.
“This trust has been handed to us by Nigerians to do the absolute best for Nigeria. And when it now appears that we have been misunderstood, that’s why we said we should come here,” he stated.
Abaribe disclosed that a joint committee of the Senate and the House of Representatives worked extensively on the Electoral Act amendment bill and reached a consensus in favour of electronic transmission of results.
“The joint committees had several retreats; everyone agreed at the end of the retreat that electronic transmission of results was the way to go.
“And that was reflected in the reports, both in the House and in Senate reports, and I think the Senate President reiterated it yesterday,” he said.
He further explained that the report considered by the Senate during a closed executive session clearly supported electronic transmission.
“It was the report of that Senate ad hoc committee that we considered when we went into a closed session so that we could tidy up the report.
“And when we came back to plenary to pass it, we passed it without any rancour,” Abaribe said.
Giving what he described as a categorical assurance, the senator said there was unanimity across party lines on the provision.
“I can assure you, on the honour of all of us who are standing here, that both the electoral committee of the Senate and the ad hoc committee of the Senate, and also in the executive session that we had, we all agreed on Section 63(3), which is electronic transmission of votes.
“And electronic transmission of results was what we passed at plenary yesterday (Wednesday),” he said.
Abaribe also clarified that a harmonisation committee has been set up to reconcile the versions of the bill passed by the Senate and the House of Representatives.
“Harmonisation is what you use to make sure that you produce one single document which the president will now sign. So that is where we are at the moment,” he explained.
He added that the Senate had not yet reconvened after Wednesday’s plenary to adopt the Votes and Proceedings, a necessary procedural step.
“One other thing, so that Nigerians can rest assured, is that after our plenary session yesterday, we adjourned but did not come back to pass the votes and proceedings,” he said.
According to him, the final document to be transmitted to the harmonisation committee must first be ratified through the Votes and Proceedings.
“There’s still one more step left by the Senate to take. What now happens in harmonisation is simple: you either adopt the House’s version or you adopt the Senate’s version, and of course Nigerians know what they want,” Abaribe added.
He urged Nigerians to remain vigilant and engage their representatives.
“It is the duty of Nigerians also to put pressure and ask questions from their representatives on what was passed,” he said.
Abaribe concluded by stressing that support for real-time electronic transmission of results cuts across party lines in the Senate.
“The majority of senators, across party lines, support the passage of real-time electronic transmission of results, because this is not a party matter; this is a Nigerian matter,” he said.
