The Youth Electoral Reform Project Consortium has pressed the Conference Committee of the National Assembly handling the Electoral Act amendment bill to retain the House of Representatives’ position on compulsory electronic transmission of results.
In a joint statement issued Thursday, the 12th of February, 2026, and endorsed by its executive directors, the coalition acknowledged the Senate’s recent emergency plenary to reconsider contentious sections of the proposed law. It described the move as a reaction to “countrywide public concerns over the changes they made last week to the version of the bill passed by the House of Representatives in December 2025.”
The group pointed out that on Tuesday, the 10th of February, 2026, the Senate returned to Clause 60(3) of the Electoral Act Amendment Bill and eventually embraced electronic transmission of election results after initially rejecting it.
“YERP-Naija believes that accountable leaders listen to the people and consistently act in their best interest,” the statement read.
Despite that shift, the consortium maintained that the Senate’s revision did not fully align with the House’s stance, which makes real-time electronic transmission compulsory.
“Nigerians overwhelmingly asked for mandatory electronic transmission of election results in real-time to address human interference and compromise of election collation processes,” the group stated.
According to the coalition, forwarding the differing versions of the legislation to a Conference Committee for reconciliation represents “a significant step in the electoral reform process.”
It also referenced the directive by the Senate President to complete the harmonisation within one week to enable presidential assent before the end of February 2026, describing it as “a good commitment that Nigerians expect them to keep.”
However, the group expressed reservations about the Senate’s version of Section 60(3), which permits manual transmission where technological challenges arise, warning that it “opens a window for electoral fraud.” It added, “Individuals or groups with intentions to manipulate elections could leverage this provision to fake or cause internet connectivity problems in order to revert to the untrustworthy manual transfer process.”
Addressing concerns about connectivity, the statement noted, “Internet connectivity across Nigeria has been improving over the years, and there is an opportunity to cover any existing dark spots before the 2027 general elections.”
On the functionality of the BVAS device, the group explained that it “can record the exact time stamps when a result was uploaded when there is no network and immediately transmit it to IREV once the network returns,” stressing that this “can prove that results were uploaded in real-time, even if they were not transmitted immediately.”
The consortium urged members of the Conference Committee to “carefully consider the facts and put the country before political expediency,” appealing to them to endorse the House’s proposal, which “limits human interference, manipulation, and electoral fraud through mandatory electronic transmission of election results in real-time.”
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Reaffirming its position, the group declared, “Nigerian youth support it, and INEC has already adopted and significantly deployed it for the 2023 general elections,” adding, “What Nigerians are asking for is not new.”
With the 2027 polls drawing closer, YERP-Naija emphasised that it is “imperative that the Electoral Act amendment bill and relevant constitutional amendment bills that impact the electoral process are passed in a timely manner to facilitate the conduct of credible elections,” cautioning that “delays or diluted provisions may constrain implementation timelines and undermine the impact of the amendment.”
Meanwhile, the Senate has constituted a 12-member delegation to meet with the House of Representatives to harmonise the bill, following the controversy that trailed recent amendments.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio unveiled the panel during Tuesday’s emergency sitting, on the 10th of February.
The committee is chaired by Simon Lalong and includes Orji Uzor Kalu, Tahir Mungono, Adamu Aliero, Abba Moro, Asuquo Ekpenyong, Aminu Iya Abbas, Tokunbo Abiru, Niyi Adegbonmire, Jibrin Isah, Ipalibo Banigo and Onyekachi Nwebonyi.