Members of the Joint National Assembly Conference Committee are set to meet on Monday, February 16, 2026, to reconcile differences in the Electoral Amendment Bill passed separately by the Senate and House of Representatives. The harmonisation focuses primarily on provisions for the electronic transmission of election results, a contentious issue since the 2023 general election when the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) failed to upload presidential results in real time. The harmonised bill will be submitted to President Bola Tinubu for assent.
The House and Senate have differed on the timing and method of transmitting results. While the House mandates real-time electronic transmission to INEC鈥檚 Result Viewing Portal (IReV), the Senate initially excluded this clause but later agreed to electronic transmission with manual collation as a fallback in case of technical failure. Lawmakers, including Senator Seriake Dickson, have urged the committee to adopt the House version to strengthen transparency and public confidence in future polls.
Experts and former officials have weighed in on the need for statutory clarity. Dr. Olisa Agbakoba, former Nigerian Bar Association president, called for mandatory real-time electronic transmission, citing the 1993 Option A4 system as a benchmark for transparent elections. Senate sources stressed that IReV is a platform for publicising results, not an e-voting system, and that manual counting at polling units remains the legal basis for result collation.
The conference committee鈥檚 decision is expected to define the final form of the Electoral Act amendments ahead of the 2027 general elections. Senate President Godswill Akpabio has indicated the harmonised bill will be sent to the President before the end of February, signalling the National Assembly鈥檚 commitment to addressing electoral reforms and ensuring credible elections.
