Senator Abdul Ningi says the Senate can conduct open voting on real-time electronic transmission of election results amid nationwide controversy.
The Bauchi Central lawmaker spoke on Channels Television Politics Today programme on Monday ahead of an emergency Senate plenary scheduled for Tuesday.
Ningi said Senate rules allow public declaration of votes, depending on the decision of the presiding officer.
He explained that senators could individually state their positions, which would then be officially recorded.
According to him, transparency is necessary to resolve public concerns surrounding the amendment of the Electoral Act.
Ningi questioned how the amendment process was handled, citing gaps in the recording of votes and proceedings.
He said senators were not adequately briefed on the implications of the proposed amendment before decisions were taken.
The lawmaker stressed that the dispute over electronic transmission is not driven by party interests.
He said senators across political parties largely support electronic transmission of election results.
Ningi criticised widespread condemnation of the Senate, saying most lawmakers agree with the House of Representatives’ position.
He said governors from different parties have also expressed support for electronic transmission.
The controversy followed Senate passage of the Electoral Act Amendment Bill without mandating real-time transmission.
The rejected clause would have required INEC to upload polling unit results instantly to its online portal.
Instead, the Senate retained existing provisions allowing INEC to determine transmission methods.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio later explained that “real-time” was removed to avoid legal disputes during network failures.
Public protests erupted in Abuja, with demonstrators demanding explicit inclusion of real-time electronic transmission.
Protesters insisted that electoral transparency depends on immediate online publication of polling unit results.
