Several civil society organizations, including the Centre for Media and Society (CEMESO), The Kukah Centre, International Press Centre (IPC), Elect Her, Nigerian Women Trust Fund, TAF Africa, and Yiaga Africa, have urged the Senate to conform to the House of Representatives' stance on the compulsory electronic transmission of election results.
This request was articulated during a press conference held on Monday at the Abuja Continental Hotel.
The organizations expressed significant concern over the Senate's rejection of the electronic transmission of election results, the use of downloaded or unissued voter cards during elections, and the shortening of essential electoral timelines.
They stated that the current differences between the Senate and the House of Representatives regarding these amendments could adversely affect the credibility of the upcoming 2027 general elections.
Furthermore, the groups highlighted how the prolonged amendment process has generated legal ambiguity, causing delays in the Independent National Electoral Commission's (INEC) mandated preparations, which could jeopardize the commission's capacity to conduct fair elections.
The civil society organizations have given the National Assembly a two-week deadline to finalize the amendment process and send the approved bill to the president.
Their statement indicated that following the Senate's vote, public discussion has been filled with conflicting interpretations concerning the Senate's official position. They noted three contending narratives: one suggests that the Senate endorsed real-time electronic transmission; another states that the existing provisions of the Electoral Act 2022 allowing INEC discretionary powers for results management remain unchanged; and a third claims that the Senate replaced "transmit" with "transfer" and omitted "real-time" from its version.
The organizations criticized the political contestation surrounding such a crucial piece of legislation.
In their statement, they called upon INEC to issue the electoral timetable for the 2027 general elections without any further delays, citing that postponement in finalizing the electoral amendments could introduce legal uncertainties, hampering preparations for the 2027 elections.
They emphasized that the ongoing amendments are creating a legal environment that has seemingly hindered INEC from releasing the planned timetable for the elections, potentially putting the commission in violation of existing law. They reiterated that the 2022 Electoral Act remains valid until amended, and the incomplete status of the Electoral Bill does not exempt INEC from its statutory duties.
INEC's established policy framework anticipates general elections on the third Saturday of February in the election year, which is designed to create reliability for electoral stakeholders, enable systematic planning, and allow for contingencies such as reruns, runoff elections, and post-election disputes.
For the 2027 electoral cycle, applying this framework yields a proposed election date of February 20, 2027, necessitating the issuance of public notice by February 24, 2026.
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