President Bola Tinubu on Wednesday defended his decision to sign the Electoral Act 2026 (Amendment) into law, emphasizing that election credibility hinges more on effective management and human oversight than on instant electronic transmission of results.
Speaking at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, Tinubu addressed the ongoing debate over whether results should be transmitted live from polling units.
He said, “It’s not as important as the history aspects of this. What is crucial is the fact that you manage the process to the extent there will be no confusion, no disenfranchisement of Nigerians, and that we are all going to see democracy flourish.”
The President highlighted that elections are ultimately human-driven, regardless of technology.
“No matter how good the system is, it’s managed by the people, promoted by the people, and the result is finalised by the people,” he stated.
Tinubu also clarified that final results would be delivered by designated electoral officials rather than computers.
“In fact, for final results, you are not going to be talking to the computer; you are going to be talking to human beings who will announce the final results. And when you look at the crux of various arguments, maybe Nigerians should question our broadband capability. How technically are we today? How technically will we be tomorrow to answer the call of either real-time or not?”
He underscored that voting remains fundamentally manual, from ballot issuance to counting.
“And as long as you appear personally, as a manual voter in any polling booth, a ballot paper is given to you manually, you decide in a corner and thumbprint the person of your choice, you cast your votes, without hindrance and any interference, ballots are subsequently counted manually, sorted, and counted manually,” Tinubu explained.
According to the President, electronic transmission is limited to recording arithmetic results in Form EC8A after manual collation.
“It’s just the arithmetic accuracy that is to enter into Form EC8A. It’s the manual, essentially. The transmission of that manual result is what we’re looking at. And we need to avoid glitches — I’m glad you did — interference, unnecessary hacking in this age of computer inquisitiveness. Nigeria will be there. We will flourish. We will continue to nurture this democracy for the fulfillment of our dream for the prosperity and stability of our country.”
The amendment had sparked intense debate over real-time electronic transmission of results.
While the House of Representatives initially mandated real-time uploads, the Senate revised it to allow manual collation where technology fails. This led to protests and walkouts in the National Assembly as lawmakers debated Clause 60(3).
Under the final law, results are transmitted electronically after Form EC8A is signed and stamped at polling units, but manually signed forms serve as the fallback if networks fail.
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