Protesters staged a renewed demonstration at the National Assembly on Monday, calling for the compulsory inclusion of real-time electronic transmission of election results in the Electoral Act Amendment Bill, 2026.
Civil society organizations, including Situation Room and Action Aid, led the protests, insisting that manual collation be fully eliminated to prevent result manipulation.
DAILY GAZETTE reports that security operatives blocked access to the Assembly complex, forcing demonstrators to hold their rally outside the gates.
The demonstrators argued that full transparency must be ensured, pointing out that the election budget already covers the necessary technological infrastructure.
They stressed that manual backups are unnecessary and could compromise the integrity of the results.
The protest follows last week’s Senate emergency plenary, where Clause 60(3) of the Electoral Act Amendment Bill was revisited.
Senate Chief Whip, Senator Tahir Monguno (APC, Borno North), moved to remove the term “real-time” and replace “transmission” with “transfer,” triggering objections from senators including Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe (APGA, Abia South), who repeatedly raised points of order.
At the conclusion of the deliberations, the Senate approved electronic transmission to INEC’s Result Viewing Portal but retained manual collation as a contingency for technical failures.
The Senate is expected to reconvene on Tuesday, February 17, at 11 a.m. to further deliberate on national issues.
Protesters have vowed to continue their advocacy until real-time e-transmission is guaranteed.
