Akpabio Defends Removal of “Real-Time” Results Mandate to Avoid Legal “Floodgates”
Senate President Godswill Akpabio has stepped forward to defend the National Assembly’s recent decision to strip the “mandatory real-time” requirement for electronic result transmission from the Electoral Act Amendment Bill 2026.
Speaking at a recent book launch, Akpabio explained that the removal was a deliberate, practical choice aimed at protecting the integrity of the electoral process from technical failures beyond human control.
The Senate President argued that making real-time uploads strictly compulsory could lead to a wave of litigations if a network glitch or system failure occurred at a polling unit, potentially destabilizing the entire election.
“Lawmakers dropped the ‘real-time’ provision during the clause-by-clause consideration of the bill to avoid potential legal complications that could arise from network failures,” Akpabio noted, stressing that the goal was to avoid “rigid wording.”
To support his point, he referenced the infamous 2000 U.S. presidential election between George Bush and Al Gore, cautioning that even the world’s most advanced democracies have faced chaos over electronic voting and transmission.
He maintained that the power to decide the transmission mode should remain with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), as they are best equipped to handle the logistical realities of different regions.
While the Senate’s decision has faced backlash from civil society groups and opposition leaders like Peter Obi, Akpabio insisted that the Senate does not oppose technology, but rather the legal “trap” of mandating perfection in an imperfect environment.
