INEC doesn’t have capacity to conduct e-voting - Senate

…says IReV wasn’t designed for electronic voting

…faults claims it rejected use of portal for 2027 polls

The Senate has said the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) currently lacks the capacity to conduct electronic voting, clarifying that the electronic transmission of results should not be mistaken for e-voting.

Adeniyi Adegbonmire, Chairman of the Senate Ad-hoc Panel on the Review of the 2026 Electoral Bill, made the clarification in a statement on Thursday evening.

He stressed that Nigeria had not transitioned to an e-voting system and that suggestions to the contrary were based on “misconception.”

He stated, “People need to understand what real-time means. Real-time transmission can only happen if INEC adopts an e-voting system.

“For now, INEC does not have the capability for e-voting.

“Maybe in two or three years, we can adopt e-voting. But as of today, INEC has not put an e-voting system in place.”

Adegbonmire also dismissed claims that the Senate declined the use of the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV) for the 2027 general elections, describing such reports as inaccurate.

“The Senate never said INEC should not use IReV for the 2027 elections,” he said.

According to him, IReV was not designed as an electronic voting platform but as a results publication portal.

“IReV is not an e-voting platform as some people think.

“It is software developed by INEC to publicise results already declared at polling units. It is not a voting platform,” he said.

He explained that under the current system, votes are cast and counted manually at polling units, after which the presiding officer fills Form EC8A.

The signed result sheet is then uploaded to the IReV portal.

“The provision says the presiding officer will first fill the result manually in Form EC8A. It is that Form EC8A that has been filled manually that will be transmitted to IReV,” he said.

“If we change ‘transmit’ to ‘upload’ in the Electoral Bill 2026, will it change anything? The answer is no.”

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The lawmaker, who is also Chairman of the Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters, emphasised that the National Assembly cannot alter the technical configuration of IReV through legislation.

“IReV has a pattern of working, and the National Assembly cannot change the software by mere legislation.

“It was a sheer misconception to conclude that the Senate declined the use of IReV for the transmission of election results,” he said.

He further clarified that regardless of the terminology used, upload, transfer, or transmit the process remains the same.

“Whether we call it upload, transfer, or transmission, as far as it says IReV must be used, it will be used in the manner it was configured.

“You must first manually write out the figure. After you have written out the figure at the polling unit, then you can upload, transfer or transmit,” he said.

Adegbonmire noted that voting and vote counting in Nigeria remain manual processes, adding that neither IReV nor the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) counts ballots.

“It is not IReV or BVAS that count ballots. Vote count is manually done,” he said.

He also pointed to logistical challenges across the country, especially in remote and riverine communities, as factors that make uniform real-time uploading impractical.

“In some parts of Ondo State, you have to travel for eight hours.

“In riverine areas, they use boats. Voting cannot start at the same time nationwide,” he said.

“In Akure, voting may finish early and results uploaded by 4:00 p.m. In another community, voting may only start at 4:00 p.m. That is the reality in the country.”

According to him, the Senate’s position seeks to avoid unnecessary disputes arising from delayed uploads caused by connectivity or logistical constraints.

“We do not want a situation where somebody says the result was declared at 2:00 p.m., so why was it uploaded at 7:00 p.m.? People will assume the result was manipulated.

“The smallest thing can spark an issue if we are not careful,” he said.

He urged the media to exercise caution in reporting developments around the Electoral Bill to prevent misinformation capable of heightening tensions ahead of the 2027 polls.