Akpabio defends Senate against criticism over Electoral Act amendment

The President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, has pushed back against criticisms surrounding the ongoing amendment of the Electoral Act, insisting that lawmakers are being unfairly judged while the legislative process is still underway.

Akpabio maintained that the Senate did not expunge the electronic transmission of election results from the proposed amendment.

He spoke in Abuja, according to a statement made available to newsmen, while serving as the special guest of honour at the public presentation of a book titled The Burden of Legislators in Nigeria, written by Senator Effiong Bob.

The Senate President explained that what lawmakers queried was the provision that requires results to be transmitted in real time.

His remarks came amid growing backlash from opposition parties and civil society groups following reports that the Senate had rejected compulsory real-time electronic transmission of election results in the amended law.

On Saturday, the Nigerian Bar Association urged the Senate to reinstate mandatory electronic transmission of results in the Electoral Act.

In a statement posted on X (formerly Twitter), the NBA criticised the decision to retain “the current wording in the Electoral Act—which allows results to be transferred in a manner as prescribed by the Commission,” warning that the approach weakens the legal basis for credible elections and leaves room for manipulation and uncertainty.

Responding to the concerns, Akpabio said the legislative work on the amendment had not been concluded and argued that public reactions were premature.

“The Electoral Act amendment is incomplete. We have not completed it, but they are already on television. They don’t understand lawmaking.

“They don’t even know that what is in the Senate is not completed until we look at the Votes and Proceedings,” he said.

He further faulted some commentators for what he described as persistent attacks on the National Assembly, accusing certain civil society actors of attempting to dictate legislative outcomes.

“People have become mouth legislators. Go and contest election if you want to talk about lawmaking and go and join them and make the law. Retreats are not lawmaking; retreats are part of consultations. So why do you think that the paper you agreed on in Lagos during a retreat must be what is agreed on the floor?” he asked.

“I must state clearly, without ambiguity, that the Senate has not removed any means of transmission. If you want to use a bicycle to carry your votes from one polling unit to the ward centre, do so. If you want to use your phone to transmit, do so. If you want to use your iPad, do so,” he added.

The former governor of Akwa Ibom State said the core concern of lawmakers was that making real-time transmission compulsory could expose elections to legal challenges, particularly in situations where network services fail.

“All we said was that we should remove the word ‘real time,’ because if you say real time and there is a grid failure and the network is not working, when you go to court, somebody will say it ought to have been real time,” he explained.

According to Akpabio, the responsibility for determining how and when election results are transmitted should rest with the Independent National Electoral Commission, within the limits of the law.

He also cautioned that insisting on real-time transmission could lead to invalid results in areas affected by insecurity or poor network coverage.

“Real time means that in over nine states where networks are not working because of insecurity, there will be no election results. Nationally, if the national grid collapses and no network is working, no election results will be valid,” he said.

The Senate President stressed that electoral reforms must be aligned with existing legal and institutional capacity, warning against the imposition of technological solutions that outpace national infrastructure.

He added that persistent mistrust of democratic institutions, without a proper understanding of legislative procedures, could weaken the country’s democracy.

“When people do not understand their legislature, democracy is at risk. Democracy is measured not by passion alone, but by principles,” he said.

Earlier, in his opening address, the National Chairman of the African Democratic Congress and former Senate President, David Mark, who chaired the event, called on the National Assembly to pass the amendment and allow INEC to determine its operational feasibility.

“What the ADC is saying is, pass the law. Let INEC decide whether they can do it (real-time electronic transmission) or not. Don’t speak for INEC,” he said.

Other speakers at the ceremony, including Akwa Ibom State Governor, Pastor Umo Eno, and the book reviewer, Professor Maxwell Gidado (SAN), commended Senator Bob for authoring the book and drawing attention to the challenges faced by lawmakers in the course of their duties.

In his remarks, the author listed several of such challenges, including electoral disputes, confrontations with governors and political godfathers, court reversals of electoral victories, demands to resolve private matters of constituents, and difficulties arising from internal conduct within the legislature.