Nigeria, according to Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele, is not equipped for required real-time electronic transmission of election results owing to inadequacies in communications and electrical infrastructure.
In a statement made on Sunday by his directorate of media and public relations, Bamidele stated that available data suggested that Nigeria’s infrastructure cannot currently enable real-time results upload across the country.
The upper chamber voted against clause 60(3) of the Electoral Bill, 2026, which states that the presiding officer “shall electronically transmit the results from each polling unit to the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV) in real time”.
The section was then examined by the Senate, and electronic transmission was preserved with the condition that if the internet fails, Form EC8A will be the primary mode of result collation.
Bamidele stated that clause 60(3) of the bill “is an initiative that any legislature or parliament globally would ordinarily embrace.”
According to the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), broadband coverage is expected to be about 70% by 2025, with internet penetration at 44.53 percent of the population.
He also cited the Speedtest Global Index, which placed Nigeria 85th out of 105 nations for mobile network dependability and 129th out of 150 for fixed broadband reliability.
“Based on the Speedtest Global Index, Nigeria’s mobile network reliability was 44.14 megabits per second,” he said.
“This is extremely low compared with the UAE, which has 691.76 Mbps; Qatar with 573.53 Mbps; Kuwait’s 415.67 Mbps; Bahrain’s 303.21 Mbps; and Bulgaria’s 289.41 Mbps. The Index placed Nigeria far below the global average.
“Nigeria’s fixed internet broadband rating is quite low by the global standard. Out of 150 countries, Nigeria occupied 129th position with only 33.32 Mbps.”
According to Bamidele, at least 85 million Nigerians, or around 43% of the population, do not have access to grid energy.
“This shortfall speaks to the state of our power infrastructure,” he said.
