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President Bola Tinubu has provided an explanation for his decision to enact the Electoral Act 2026 (Amendment).
Tinubu addressed ongoing discussions on Wednesday at the Presidential Villa in Abuja about whether the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) should receive real-time election results from polling places.
Tinubu said the credibility of elections relies on proper management, human oversight, and technological systems.
The president said, “It’s not as important as the history aspects of this. What is crucial is the fact that you manage the process to the extent there will be no confusion, no disenfranchisement of Nigerians, and that we are all going to see democracy flourish.”
Tinubu noted that elections are conducted and concluded by people, saying, “No matter how good the system is, it’s managed by the people, promoted by the people, and the result is finalised by the people.”
Regarding debates over the transmission of results, Tinubu noted that “In fact, for final results, you are not going to be talking to the computer; you are going to be talking to human beings who will announce the final results.
“And when you look at the crux of various arguments, maybe Nigerians should question our broadband capability. How technically are we today? How technically will we be tomorrow to answer the call of either real-time or not?”
On the manual nature of voting, Tinubu said, “And as long as you appear personally, as a manual voter in any polling booth, a ballot paper is given to you manually, you decide in a corner and thumbprint the person of your choice, you cast your votes without hindrance and any interference, ballots are subsequently counted manually, sorted, and counted manually.”
Regarding electronic transmission, he added, “It’s just the arithmetic accuracy that is to enter into Form EC8A. It’s the manual, essentially. The transmission of that manual result is what we’re looking at.
“And we need to avoid glitches — I’m glad you did — interference, unnecessary hacking in this age of computer inquisitiveness.
“Nigeria will be there. We will flourish. We will continue to nurture this democracy for the fulfillment of our dream for the prosperity and stability of our country.”
