Nigeria’ Senate Majority Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, has declared that the country is not ready for real-time electronic transmission of election results.
The senator representing Ekiti state in the Upper Chamber of Nigeria’s Legislature said the electricity and telecommunication infrastructure available in the country cannot support the demand by Nigerians that election results be transmitted electronically real-time.
While internet penetration is very low in the country, Bamidele said no fewer than 85 million Nigerians lack access to grid electricity, representing about 43 per cent of the nation’s population.
Bamidele made the remark on Sunday, in a statement, citing data from the Nigerian Communication Commission, NCC which exposed gaps in the nation’s telecoms infrastructure.
Recall that the Senate had last week buckled under pressure to amend the Electoral Act to include the electronic transmission of election results, with a caveat that election results can be transmitted manually where internet is not available.
The Senate had provided in the amended Electoral Act 2026 that the Presiding Officer “shall electronically transmit the results from each polling unit to INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV) in real time”.
Not a few Nigerians have, however, complained that the amendment fell short of their yearnings for a real-time transmission of election results, which they insist will reduce election results manipulation.
According to Bamidele, it’s desirable that election results be transmitted electronically, as soon as the ballots have been counted, but that the nation’s internet infrastructure cannot support such, citing NCC data which put broadband coverage at 70 per cent and internet penetration at over 44 per cent of the population.
The senator also cited the Speedtest Global Index, which ranked Nigeria 85th out of 105 countries in mobile network reliability and 129th out of 150 countries in fixed broadband reliability.
He stressed that Nigeria’s situation is quite different from other countries where internet penetration is relatively high.
“This is extremely low compared with the UAE, which has 691.76 Mbps; Qatar with 573.53 Mbps; Kuwait’s 415.67 Mbps; Bahrain’s 303.21 Mbps; and Bulgaria’s 289.41 Mbps. The Index placed Nigeria far below the global average,” he said.
He said: Nigeria’s fixed internet broadband rating is quite low by the global standard. Out of 150 countries, Nigeria occupied 129th position with only 33.32 Mbps.”
“This shortfall speaks to the state of our power infrastructure.”
The magazine reports that the House of Representatives has slated an Emergency Sitting for Tuesday, February 17 to address some of the issues generated in 2026 Electoral Act.
Afterwards, the two Chambers, Senate and House of Reps are expected to harmonize the various versions of the Bill for onward transmission to the president for his assent.
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