Civil society organisations have expressed concern over the Senate’s revised Clause 60(3) of the Electoral Bill, warning that new conditions attached to the electronic transmission of election results could undermine electoral integrity.

In a joint statement on Wednesday in Abuja, the CSOs, Centre for Media and Society (CEMESO), The Kukah Centre, International Press Centre (IPC), Elect Her, Nigerian Women Trust Fund, TAF Africa and Yiaga Africa, welcomed the Senate’s decision to reverse its earlier position.

They, however, described certain insertions in the clause as problematic.

At an emergency plenary on February 10, the Senate rescinded its earlier rejection of mandatory electronic transmission of results from polling units and adopted a provision permitting electronic transmission “as long as it does not fail.”

The revised clause, however, designates Form EC8A as the primary source of election results and expands the Senate’s conference committee membership from six to 12 members to align with the House of Representatives.

The CSOs said that the conditional language — “provided if it fails and it becomes impossible to transmit” — introduced ambiguity and dangerous discretion into the results management process.

According to them, the bill does not clearly define what constitutes a failure, how such failure should be documented or what verification mechanisms should apply, thereby creating a potential loophole that could weaken transparency safeguards.

They also questioned the decision to designate Form EC8A as the “primary source” of results, arguing that while polling unit results were legally significant, failing to accord equal status to electronically transmitted results could diminish their value as a transparency tool.

According to them, electronic transmission is not merely symbolic but a structural safeguard designed to reduce manipulation between polling unit declaration and collation.

The coalition warned that making the process optional or conditional weakens its deterrent effect and undermines the creation of an immediate, verifiable audit trail.

They urged the National Assembly’s Conference Committee to adopt the House of Representatives’ provision on mandatory electronic transmission.

The CSOs argued that it was better adopted since it comes with proposed modifications requiring designated election officials to transmit all results in real time—including the number of accredited voters—directly to a public portal.

They also called for transmitted results to be used to verify any other result before collation.

Additionally, they recommended adopting the House’s position approving downloadable records of missing and unissued voters’ cards to prevent voter disenfranchisement.

On electoral timelines, the CSOs advocated retaining existing provisions in the 2022 Electoral Act and the House’s bill, including 360 days’ notice for elections, 180 days for submission of candidate lists and 150 days for publication of nominations by INEC.

They also called for meaningful participation of civil society and technical experts in the conference committee’s deliberations.

Noting that sustained civic advocacy prompted the Senate’s reversal, the groups, however, said that the process remained incomplete.

The coalition called on Nigerians, the media, political parties, technology experts and other stakeholders to remain vigilant as the legislation progresses, stressing that the credibility of future elections would depend on getting Clause 60(3) right.

(NAN)