The Nigerian Senate has approved the Electoral Act 2022 (Repeal and Re-enactment) Amendment Bill 2026 after its third reading, but rejected a proposal that would have made the real-time electronic transmission of election results mandatory.
Lawmakers voted against an amendment to Clause 60(3), which sought to compel presiding officers of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to upload polling unit results to the INEC Result Viewing (IREV) portal immediately after completing and signing Form EC8A.
By retaining the existing provision, the Senate reaffirmed INEC’s discretion to determine the mode of results transmission. The law provides that election results shall be transmitted “in a manner as prescribed by the Commission.”
A lawmaker, speaking during deliberations, said the decision was intended to “preserve the operational flexibility of INEC while ensuring compliance with the broader objectives of the Electoral Act.”
The amended bill also revises the country’s electoral timeline. Under the new provisions, the notice period for elections was reduced from 360 days to 180 days, while the deadline for political parties to submit candidates’ lists was shortened from 180 days to 90 days before a general election.
In addition, the Senate retained the Permanent Voter Card (PVC) as the approved means of voter identification at polling units and upheld the use of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) for voter accreditation.