Agbakoba Urges National Assembly to Enshrine Electronic Transmission of Election Results in Law Before 2027

Former President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Dr. Olisa Agbakoba (SAN), has called on the National Assembly to urgently amend the Electoral Act to mandate electronic transmission of election results ahead of the 2027 general elections.

In a statement titled “Ending the Cycle – Why Electronic Transmission Should Be Enshrined in the Electoral Act Before 2027,” Agbakoba warned that failure to provide statutory backing for electronic transmission would perpetuate Nigeria’s cycle of disputed elections and prolonged litigation.

The senior advocate highlighted that the Supreme Court ruled after the 2023 elections that electronic transmission was not expressly provided for in the Electoral Act 2022. The court held that since the process was contained only in INEC’s Regulations and Guidelines rather than the substantive Act, it lacked binding legal force.

According to Agbakoba, the apex court further ruled that the IReV portal was created primarily for public viewing and could not replace the legally prescribed collation process or serve as admissible evidence in election petitions.

“The message was unmistakable. Without explicit statutory provision, electronic transmission remains optional and legally inconsequential, no matter how transparent or efficient it may be,” Agbakoba stated.

He noted that the current legal framework places an almost insurmountable evidentiary burden on petitioners challenging election results. Citing Justice Pat Acholonu’s observation in Buhari v. Obasanjo (2005), Agbakoba recalled that the jurist questioned whether any petitioner could successfully challenge a presidential election under Nigeria’s legal framework.

Justice Acholonu had noted that a petitioner would need to call hundreds of thousands of witnesses from polling units nationwide to prove irregularities, a task described as practically impossible within statutory timelines.

Agbakoba said this prediction has “proven tragically accurate,” noting that no presidential election petition has succeeded since Nigeria’s return to democracy in 1999. With over 176,000 polling units, the manual method of proving discrepancies makes the burden of proof nearly unattainable.

Drawing from historical comparison, Agbakoba referenced the June 12, 1993 presidential election, widely regarded as Nigeria’s most credible poll. Conducted under the Option A4 system, the election allowed open counting and immediate verification at polling units, generating widespread public confidence.

He argued that real-time electronic transmission would combine immediate verification with secure digital records, delivering transparency with greater efficiency in the digital age.

Agbakoba described the ongoing legislative review as a “monumental opportunity” to correct the defect in the Electoral Act, noting that embedding mandatory electronic transmission would eliminate ambiguity, close legal loopholes, and reduce post-election litigation.

He cautioned that without reform, Nigeria risks perpetuating a “vicious cycle” of disputed elections, lengthy judicial battles, and recurring amendments to the Electoral Act.