Real-Time Electronic Transmission Must Be Enshrined in Electoral Act Before 2027 – Ex-NBA President
The former President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Dr. Olisa Agbakoba, SAN, has highlighted the importance of real-time electronic transmission of election results, calling for its adoption into the Electoral Act before the 2027 elections.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Monday, Dr. Agbakoba asserted that Nigeria’s electoral framework has long been plagued by legal uncertainty, often leaving courts to determine election outcomes.
“This uncertainty stems from a fundamental failure: the absence of strong regulatory processes backed by express statutory authority. With every election cycle, we rush to amend the Electoral Act. Yet we continue to grapple with the same challenges, leading to continued rounds of amendments. This vicious cycle must end,” he said.
He pointed out that the 2023 elections exposed a critical gap in Nigeria’s electoral legal framework, stressing that despite the Independent National Electoral Commission deploying INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV) portal for electronic transmission of results, the Supreme Court ruled that the innovation lacked legal force.
“The Court held that because electronic transmission is not expressly provided by the Electoral Act 2022 (appearing only in INEC’s Regulations and Guidelines), it is not legally binding. And that the IReV portal serves merely for public viewing and is not admissible evidence of results in election petitions,” the legal luminary noted.
According to him, the message was unmistakeable — without explicit statutory provision, electronic transmission remains optional and legally inconsequential, no matter how transparent or efficient it may be.
Agbakoba explained that this legal gap creates an insurmountable evidentiary burden in election petitions. “The late Justice Pat Acholonu, in Buhari v. Obasanjo (2005), doubted that a petitioner could successfully challenge a presidential election.
“He noted that a petitioner needed to call approximately 250,000 to 300,000 witnesses across electoral constituencies in the country, and even if successful, the president-elect would have completed the four-year tenure, rendering any victory ‘an empty victory bereft of any substance’.”
Agbakoba stressed that history has proven this prophecy tragically accurate, noting that no presidential election petition has succeeded since 1999.
“This is precisely because the evidentiary proof of results verification from over 176,000 polling units nationwide is a practical impossibility within the short timelines allowed by law,” he explained. “History offers a proven solution. The June 12, 1993 election remains Nigeria’s gold standard for electoral credibility, not because of sophisticated technology, but because of uncompromising transparency.”
The renowned lawyer recalled that the Option A4 system ensured immediate, open verification at polling units, allowing voters, party agents, and observers to witness and confirm results before any collation occurred.
“Despite entirely manual processes, this transparency generated unprecedented public confidence. Both local and international observers acclaimed it as Nigeria’s freest and fairest election.
“If manual transparency could achieve such credibility in 1993, imagine the transformative impact of real time electronic transmission in our digital age in 2026! It would combine immediate verification with tamper proof digital records, delivering the same transparency with far greater efficiency, security, and verifiability,” he remarked.
Agbakoba argued that the current legislative process presents a monumental opportunity for the National Assembly to resolve this fundamental issue before the 2027 general elections, emphasising that Nigerians need a robust legal framework for transparency and to restore confidence in the electoral process.
“Without this amendment, we risk perpetuating the same cycle of disputed elections, protracted litigation, and damaged democratic credibility that has plagued Nigeria’s Fourth Republic,” he warned, urging the National Assembly to act decisively to embed mandatory real-time electronic transmission of results in the Electoral Act.
This, he said, would remove all ambiguity and close the legal loopholes that have been exploited to undermine the people’s will, adding that democracy demands nothing less.
