Nigeria Senate Approves Real-Time Election Result Uploads

In Abuja on Tuesday, Nigeria's Senate reversed its earlier decision to reject a proposal mandating real-time electronic transmission of election results from polling units, yielding to widespread public pressure amid preparations for the 2027 general elections.

The upper chamber's about-face came during an emergency plenary session convened to revisit the controversial provision in the ongoing amendment to the Electoral Act 2022. Last week, senators had voted against requiring the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to upload results immediately after counting at the roughly 176,000 polling units nationwide. That rejection drew sharp criticism from civil society groups, labor unions, lawyers, and opposition figures, who argued it would undermine transparency and invite manipulation during the manual collation process.

Protests erupted outside the National Assembly on Monday, with demonstrators, including opposition leader Peter Obi, demanding the Senate align with the House of Representatives, which had already approved the measure. The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Africa's largest labor federation, threatened nationwide strikes or an election boycott if the...