Alleged Tampering Sparks Electoral Bill Controversy in Nigerian Senate

A fresh controversy has erupted in Nigeria’s National Assembly over allegations that the recently passed Electoral Act Amendment Bill was tampered with after its initial approval.

According to a Senate source, a clause mandating the real-time electronic transmission of election results was removed from the official record of proceedings and replaced with wording that critics say weakens transparency safeguards.

The dispute centers on amendments passed during the Senate’s plenary session on Wednesday, February 4, 2026. At that time, lawmakers reportedly adopted Clause 60(3), which explicitly required presiding officers at polling units to “electronically transmit results from each polling unit to the IREV portal in real time” after signing result forms.

However, the official Votes and Proceedings the formal record of parliamentary decisions released on Tuesday, February 10, allegedly presents a different version. The clause in question, now listed as Clause 60(5), states only that “The Presiding Officer shall transmit the results including total number of accredited voters to the next level of collation.”

“This is not what the Senate passed last week,” the source stated, describing the change as “fraudulent.” The alteration reportedly replaces direct electronic upload to the public INEC Results Viewing Portal (IREV) with manual transmission to the next collation point.

The original amendment process on February 4th saw Senator Mohammed Tahir Monguno (Borno North) propose deleting the real-time transmission clause and reinstating the wording from the existing Electoral Act. Following deliberations, an amended clause was adopted.

The source now alleges that Senator Monguno, in concert with Senate President Godswill Akpabio and other lawmakers, introduced “provisos and conditions” that effectively undermined the electronic transmission mandate after the vote had taken place.

Other related clauses were passed without issue, including provisions for vote recounts and procedures for delivering physical results to INEC officials.

The controversy has raised serious concerns about legislative integrity and electoral transparency, with tensions expected to escalate as the Senate may reconvene to address the discrepancy. The issue strikes at the heart of ongoing national demands for an electoral process that guarantees the real-time public visibility of results.