By our Reporter
The Nigerian Senate has passed the Electoral Act 2022 (Repeal and Re-enactment) Amendment Bill 2026 after a third reading.
However, lawmakers rejected a proposal to amend Clause 60, Subsection 3, which would have made the electronic transmission of election results compulsory.
The rejected amendment sought to require presiding officers of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to upload polling unit results to the IREV portal in real time after completing and signing Form EC8A.
Instead, the Senate retained the existing provision of the Electoral Act, which allows results to be transmitted “in a manner as prescribed by the Commission,” leaving the decision on how results are transmitted to INEC.
In other decisions, the Senate reduced the election notice period from 360 days to 180 days and shortened the deadline for political parties to submit candidates’ lists from 180 days to 90 days before a general election.
Lawmakers also retained the Permanent Voter Card (PVC) as the approved means of voter identification at polling units while adopting the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) for voter accreditation.
