● Dismisses claims over IReV and 2027 polls
The Senate has clarified that the real-time electronic transmission of election results does not amount to electronic voting, as being suggested in some quarters.
It stressed that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) lacked the capacity to conduct e-voting.
The upper chamber also explained that the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV) “is not an e-voting platform, but a portal through which election results that have been manually counted and declared at polling units are uploaded and made public.”
Chairman of the Senate Ad-hoc Panel on the Review of the 2026 Electoral Bill, Senator Adeniyi Adegbonmire, made the clarification on Arise News Channel on Thursday while distinguishing between real-time transmission of results and an e-voting system.
The Senate had earlier constituted the ad-hoc panel to review the report of its Committee on Electoral Matters, harmonise differences, and address grey areas identified during deliberations.
Adegbonmire was appointed to head the seven-member panel.
Speaking on the Senate’s position, Adegbonmire stated that Nigeria had not transitioned to an e-voting system, contrary to insinuations in some quarters and reports by certain media platforms.
He said, “People need to understand what real-time means. Real-time transmission can only happen if INEC adopts an e-voting system. For now, INEC does not have the capability for e-voting. Maybe in two or three years, we can adopt e-voting. But as of today, INEC has not put an e-voting system in place.”
Addressing what he described as a misconception, he noted that the Electoral Bill provided that the presiding officer must first manually fill Form EC8A before the result was transmitted to IReV.
“The provision clearly states that the presiding officer will first fill the result manually in Form EC8A. It is the manually completed Form EC8A that will then be transmitted to IReV. If we replace the word ‘transmit’ with ‘upload’ in the Electoral Bill 2026, does it change anything? The answer is no,” he said.
Adegbonmire, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria and Chairman of the Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters, emphasised the need to correct misconceptions surrounding IReV, given its implications for national peace and stability.
According to him, IReV “is not a voting platform but a platform created to publicise election results already declared by presiding officers at polling units across the country.”
He added, “The Senate never said INEC should not use IReV for the 2027 elections. IReV is software developed by INEC to publicise results. It is not an e-voting platform as some people believe.
“The misinformation being circulated suggests that voters should be able to see how they voted on IReV, but that is not its function.”
He noted that the version adopted by the House of Representatives simply states that the presiding officer shall electronically transmit results from each polling unit to the IReV portal in real time after Form EC8A has been signed by the presiding officer and countersigned by candidates or their agents.
He stressed that IReV, as an electronic platform for displaying election results, operates based on an established configuration which cannot be altered by legislation alone.
“Whether we call it upload, transfer or transmission, as long as IReV is to be used, it will function according to how it was designed. The figures must first be written manually at the polling unit before they can be uploaded, transferred or transmitted,” he explained.
He further stated that without proper completion of Form EC8A, no result can be uploaded to the portal.
“When you talk about transmission, it has nothing to do with the sanctity of the voting process. Voting is done with ballot papers, and counting is done manually. It is not IReV or BVAS that counts ballots,” he said.
Citing logistical realities, Adegbonmire explained that election materials are distributed across various locations under varying conditions, which affects the timing of voting and result uploads.
Using Ondo State as an example, he noted that while voting may conclude early in places like Akure, allowing results to be uploaded by 4:00 p.m., voting in remote or riverine areas may commence much later due to transportation challenges, sometimes ending around 10:00 p.m.
He warned against creating grounds for unnecessary controversy over upload timing.
“What the Senate seeks to avoid is a situation where someone claims that a result declared at 2:00 p.m. should have been uploaded immediately, and any delay is seen as manipulation.
“Internet connectivity issues can also affect upload time. If not properly understood, even minor delays could spark unnecessary disputes,” he said.
He urged the media to exercise caution in reporting electoral matters to avoid misinterpretation, reiterating that IReV does not allow voters to see how they voted because it is not an e-voting platform.
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