The Senate has retained the provision for electronic transfer of election results as contained in the Electoral 2022 Act.
During the consideration of the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill on Wednesday, the upper chamber also rejected proposals for real-time results transmission and a 10-year ban on vote buyers, opting instead to maintain existing sanctions of fines or jail terms.
The lawmakers said the distinction between electronic transfer and real-time transmission is necessary to avoid legal and operational ambiguities in the management of election results.
Under the retained provision, “the presiding officer shall transfer the results, including the total number of accredited voters and the results of the ballot, in a manner as prescribed by the commission”.
The senate expunged a clause that would have required presiding officers to upload polling unit results to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) result viewing (IReV) portal in real time after Form EC8A had been signed and stamped.
On sanctions for electoral offences, the upper chamber voted to remove a proposed 10-year disqualification from contesting elections for individuals found guilty of vote buying.
The rejected provision, recommended by the senate committee on electoral matters, proposes sanctions ranging from “a fine of N5 million to a two-year imprisonment and a 10-year ban from contesting elections”.
Objecting to the proposal, Asuquo Ekpeyong, senator representing Cross River south, said the 10-year ban is “too grievous” and disproportionate to the offence.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio and Barau Jibrin, deputy senate president, supported the objection, arguing that penalties must be firm but reasonable and enforceable.
The senate subsequently agreed that offenders should be liable to either a N5 million fine or a two-year term of imprisonment, without any additional ban from electoral participation.
Lawmakers also approved a reduction in electoral timelines, resolving that INEC should issue notice of elections at least 180 days before polling day, instead of the current 360 days.
In addition, the upper chamber approved that the nomination of candidates should close 90 days before an election.
The senate also retained the use of the bimodal voter accreditation system (BVAS) for voter accreditation and affirmed the permanent voter card (PVC) as the sole means of voter identification at polling units.
