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From Okwe Obi, Abuja
The Peering Advocacy and Advancement Centre in Africa (PAACA) has argued that recommendations contained in the proposed amendments to the Electoral Act passed by the Senate had set booby traps for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and also, endangered the lives of presiding officers.
The Centre specifically faulted the amendment to Section 60(3), describing it as a legislative booby trap capable of creating avoidable tension at polling units, particularly in areas with poor or unstable network coverage. Its Executive Director, Ezenwa Nwagwu, in a statement yesterday said mandating compulsory electronic transmission of results without embedding practical safeguards already captured in INEC’s existing Regulations and Guidelines exposes field officers to grave danger.
“The lives of Presiding Officers will be in serious danger under the proposed framework. In many rural and hard-to-reach areas where network connectivity is unreliable or completely absent, voters may not accept the explanation of ‘no network.’
“Presiding Officers could be held hostage at polling units and prevented from leaving until electronic transmission is completed. That is the clear and present danger inherent in the current amendment to Section 60(3),” Nwagwu stated. He argued that while electronic transmission of results is a progressive reform, the law must reflect operational realities across Nigeria’s diverse terrain.
According to him, INEC’s existing regulations and guidelines already provide a more comprehensive, layered and fail-safe process for result transmission and collation, saying such provisions should have been embedded in the Electoral Act rather than replaced with rigid language.
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Citing Section 38 of the INEC Regulations and Guidelines, he explained that upon completion of voting and result procedures at the polling unit, the Presiding Officer is required to electronically transmit or transfer the result of the Polling Unit directly to the collation system as prescribed by the Commission, use the BVAS to upload a scanned copy of Form EC8A to the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV) and physically proceed with the BVAS and original result forms in tamper-evident envelopes to the Registration Area/Ward Collation Centre, accompanied by security agents, while polling agents may also accompany the officer.
“This framework recognises both electronic transmission and physical movement under security protection. It is balanced, realistic and safety-conscious,” the Nwagwu noted.
He further pointed to Section 48 of the Guidelines, which provides that collation officers must verify that electronically transmitted results agree with accreditation data recorded on the BVAS. Where discrepancies arise, electronically transmitted results may be used to reconcile figures.
“The Senate’s amendment fails to sufficiently incorporate these safeguards. A rigid legal requirement without operational flexibility will shift the burden of systemic network failures onto individual Presiding Officers, who are mostly adhoc staff.
This is dangerous and irresponsible,” PAACA warned. He, therefore, called on the National Assembly to revisit the amendment and harmonise the Electoral Act with INEC’s operational guidelines to ensure protection of electoral officials, realistic accommodation of network challenges, clear contingency procedures within the law and preservation of electoral integrity without exposing… field officers to mob pressure.
“Electoral credibility must not come at the cost of human lives. Reform must strengthen institutions, not endanger the very officials tasked with implementing the law,” he added.
