Senate passes Electoral Act Amendment Bill 2026, rejects compulsory IREV transmission

The Senate has passed the Electoral Act 2022 (Repeal and Reenactment) Amendment Bill 2026.

The bill introduces several changes to election timelines, technology, and penalties, while retaining certain existing provisions.

The Senate rejected a proposed amendment to make the electronic transmission of results mandatory.

This would have required presiding officers to transmit polling unit results to the IREV portal in real time after forms were signed.

The Upper House lawmakers also maintained the current law, which allows the Commission (INEC) to prescribe the manner in which results and accreditation data are transferred.

The lawmakers officially replaced “smart card readers” with the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) for accreditation and voting, rejecting electronically generated voter identification. Indeed, the Permanent Voter Card (PVC) remains the sole mandatory mode of identification at polling units.

The Senate approved significant reductions to administrative timelines, including 360 days to 180 days before the election date, and from 180 days to 90 days before the general election.

The Senate rejected a proposed 10-year prison sentence for the buying and selling of PVCs.

Instead, the lawmakers retained the two-year imprisonment term, and increased the fine from ₦2 million to ₦5 million.

The Senate struck out Clause 142, which would have allowed parties to prove non-compliance using only original or certified documents without the need for oral evidence.

The provision was removed to prevent what lawmakers termed a “waste of time in court.”

The Senate retained the existing process for ballot paper verification, allowing parties two days to submit a written approval or disapproval of their representation on those samples.

The says INEC must invite political parties to inspect their identities on sample electoral materials at least 20 days before an election.

About The Author

Dele Fashomi

Dele Fashomi, seasoned journalist and communication teacher, is a holder of Master of Arts degree in Communication and Language Arts from the University of Ibadan in 1992/93.

Earlier, he had bagged a Bachelor degree from the same university in 1984, after which he proceeded to the Nigerian Institute of Journalism, Lagos, in 1990, for a postgraduate diploma in Journalism.

He had done many courses in communication, including the EU-BBC Editing Course in 2002.

Mr. Fashomi combines effectively the practice, research and teaching of communication. And to date, he has published two academic works in communication: Issues in Communication Technology and Policy (2010) and Economic and Social Issues in Advertising and PR (2013).

He had his first break in the Nigerian media in Concord Newspapers in 1990 and today, he has over two and half decades experience earned in several newspapers.

He has been part of many start-ups, such as The Republic (1987), The Comet (1999), The Anchor 2001 – 2002; Sun Newspapers (2003); Westerner newsmagazine (2005 – 2010) as Editor; National Life (2011) as Sunday Editor, and Newswatch Newspapers (2012- 2016) as Daily Editor.

Dele Fashomi is now the Publisher/Editor-in-Chief of Newstide247.com newspaper online, which he started in July 2015. He is also into biography writing, with many books in his trail, some of which he wrote alone and one he co- authored with his mentor, Mr Dare Babarinsa, entitled:  Olabiyi Durojaiye – DARE TO BE DiFFERENT. He also guided and collaborated with Pa Olatunji Odusanya in writing his autobiography – AGAINST ALL ODDS. There are many other books in the works under his pen.

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