Amadi, Itodo Seek Removal Of Manual Transmission Clause In Electoral Act

A member of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Sam Amadi, has called for an urgent amendment of the Electoral Act 2026 to remove the proviso permitting manual transmission of election results in cases where electronic transmission fails.

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Amadi made the call on Sunday at the Citizens’ Townhall on the 2026 Electoral Act, describing the provision as a major setback to electoral transparency.

He argued that the clause effectively renders electronic transmission optional and could create loopholes in the electoral process.

“By default, electronic transmission is now optional. My position is that we can still amend this law; by the way, President Tinubu amended the national anthem in one day. Let there be consensus to amend this section to allow INEC to do their regulation, INEC captures the event of failure,” Amadi said.

He warned that the proviso could lead to confusion, as polling officers might decline to upload results on the grounds of a poor or unavailable network.

“Communication is not just electronic, this is a bad law, it could go for anything, including poor communication from the headquarters to the polling officer. Even if you have the internet, the polling officer may refuse to transmit on the basis that there was no communication. We should amend this section of the law quickly; it is very important,”

Also speaking at the programme, the Executive Director of YIAGA Africa, Samson Itodo, urged lawmakers to recommence the amendment process to expunge the contentious proviso.

According to him, the clause undermines the original objective behind reforms introduced in the 2022 Electoral Act, which sought to enhance transparency and reduce human interference.

Itodo said, “I just wish that the lawmakers would eliminate that particular proviso. This is why we made a call to them to commence the process of amending that Act and just delete that particular proviso.

“That way, as a country, we will maximise the utility of electronic transmission of results because it limits human interference, it makes the whole process open and transparent. If politicians are not scared, I see no reason why this was not considered in its full breadth.”