Prominent human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Dr. Olisa Agbakoba, SAN, on Monday urged the National Assembly to enshrine mandatory real-time electronic transmission of election results in the Electoral Act ahead of the 2027 general elections.
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In a post shared on his X platform, Agbakoba described the recurring legal disputes over election outcomes as a result of “persistent legal uncertainty” in Nigeria’s electoral framework. He noted that repeated amendments to the Electoral Act have failed to resolve a critical issue: the lack of statutory backing for electronic transmission of results.
“The 2023 election exposed a critical gap in our electoral legal framework. Despite INEC’s deployment of the IReV portal for electronic transmission of results, the Supreme Court ruled that this innovation lacks legal force,” Agbakoba said. The Court held that because electronic transmission is not explicitly provided for in the Electoral Act 2022 and appears only in INEC’s regulations and guidelines, it is not legally binding.
Agbakoba explained that this legal gap imposes an “insurmountable evidentiary burden” on election petitioners. Citing the late Justice Pat Acholonu in Buhari v. Obasanjo (2005), he noted that the practical difficulty of verifying results from over 176,000 polling units makes challenging presidential elections virtually impossible, often rendering victories meaningless.
He highlighted the June 12, 1993 election as a benchmark for transparency, where the Option A4 system allowed immediate verification of results at polling units. Agbakoba argued that combining this principle of transparency with modern electronic tools would ensure efficient, secure, and verifiable elections in 2027.
“The current legislative process represents a monumental opportunity for the National Assembly to resolve this fundamental issue before the 2027 general elections,” he said. “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.”
Agbakoba called on lawmakers to embed mandatory real-time electronic transmission of results in the Electoral Act, closing legal loopholes and safeguarding the will of the people.
“Democracy demands nothing less,” he concluded.
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