Ex-INEC officials warn of legal ambiguities in Electoral Act 2026, seek clarity on e-transmission

Former senior officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) have raised concerns over what they described as conflicting provisions in the Electoral Act 2026, cautioning that unresolved ambiguities surrounding electronic transmission of results could undermine the credibility of future elections.

The concerns were expressed on Friday in Abuja during a policy roundtable convened by Yiaga Africa. The event, themed “Electronic Transmission and Electoral Integrity: Safeguarding the Vote under the Electoral Act 2026,” brought together electoral experts, former INEC officials and civil society actors to examine the implications of the amended law.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu recently assented to the Electoral Act 2026, prompting INEC to adjust its election timetable. The commission explained that the repeal of the 2022 legislation and the enactment of the new law necessitated changes to its schedule and operational framework.

However, several civil society organisations have criticised aspects of the Act, particularly the absence of an explicit provision mandating real-time transmission of polling unit results directly to INEC’s central server. They argue that such a measure is crucial to preventing manipulation and strengthening transparency in the electoral process.

Among the speakers at the forum were former INEC National Commissioner Festus Okoye; former Resident Electoral Commissioner Mike Igini; and former INEC ICT Director, Engr. Chidi Nwafor.

Okoye, who previously chaired INEC’s Information and Voter Education Committee, acknowledged that the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) represents a major technological advancement in Nigeria’s electoral process. However, he warned that inconsistencies in the drafting of the 2026 Act could complicate its implementation.

READ ALSO: INEC declares APC’s Christopher Maikalangu winner of AMAC chairmanship election

He recalled that the Smart Card Reader was initially introduced through INEC regulations before it was formally recognised in law under the 2022 amendment.

According to him, while the National Assembly replaced references to the Smart Card Reader with the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System in parts of the 2026 Act, the substitution was not applied consistently throughout the legislation.

“Where BVAS appears in the principal section, Smart Card Reader is still retained in other parts of the Act. The National Assembly needs to clean up the drafting to avoid ambiguity,” Okoye said.

He further advised lawmakers against embedding specific technologies directly into the law, arguing that such an approach would require constant amendments whenever technology evolves.

“Don’t write a particular technology into the law. Allow the electoral body discretion to adopt appropriate technology at any given time. Each time technology changes, you cannot keep amending the Act,” he added.

Okoye explained that the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System was conceived as a multi-functional platform capable of handling voter registration, biometric accreditation, result uploads and potentially electronic voting in the future. However, he noted that while the device is technically capable of full electronic transmission of results, that functionality has not been comprehensively deployed.

A central issue discussed at the roundtable was Section 60 of the 2026 Act, which mandates electronic transmission of polling unit results to INEC’s Result Viewing Portal (IReV), while also maintaining that Form EC8A — the manually completed result sheet — remains the primary basis for collation and declaration of results.

Okoye argued that a close reading of Sections 60 and 65 reveals two distinct forms of transmission: one to IReV for public viewing and another to the official collation system.

He also referenced Section 155, which defines “transmit” as sending either manually or electronically, suggesting that the law leaves room for both methods.

READ ALSO: Igini laments ‘wasted’ decade at INEC, warns of dangers to electoral officers

While acknowledging that the Supreme Court has previously characterised IReV as merely a viewing portal, Okoye maintained that electronic transmission to the collation system should carry significant legal weight if properly interpreted.

“I am not factoring IReV into the equation of collation because the Supreme Court has defined it as a viewing portal. But the law also provides for transmission to the next level of collation, and we must interrogate that carefully,” he said.

In his remarks, Nwafor traced Nigeria’s journey in electoral technology back to the digitised voter registration initiatives of 2003 and the adoption of biometric systems during the tenure of former INEC Chairman Attahiru Jega.

The former officials collectively urged lawmakers to urgently harmonise the provisions of the Electoral Act 2026 to eliminate inconsistencies and prevent avoidable legal disputes that could erode public confidence in the electoral system.