Title: E-Voting Not Yet Feasible in Nigeria, Senate Declares; Clarifies Role of IReV Date Published: 13 February 2026 Description: The Nigerian Senate has declared that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) currently lacks the capacity to conduct electronic voting, dismissing claims that Nigeria has transitioned to an e-voting system.The Senate also clarified that the electronic transmission of election results does not amount to e-voting, noting that the two processes are being wrongly conflated in public discourse.Chairman of the Senate Ad hoc Committee to Review the 2026 Electoral Bill, Adeniyi Adegbonmire, made the clarification on Thursday during a media programme in Abuja.Adegbonmire stressed that the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV) is not an e-voting platform but a transparency tool designed to publicise results that have already been manually counted and declared at polling units.“IReV is simply a platform where election results, after being manually collated and declared at polling units, are uploaded for public viewing,” he explained.The senator further distinguished between real-time electronic transmission of results and an e-voting system, noting that Nigeria has not adopted the latter. He said contrary to insinuations in some quarters, the Senate never approved or endorsed electronic voting for elections.“People need to understand what ‘real time’ means,” Adegbonmire said. “Real-time transmission can only happen if INEC adopts an e-voting system. As of today, INEC does not have such a system in place. Maybe in two or three years, that could be possible, but not now.”He attributed much of the confusion to misinformation and misinterpretation of provisions in the Electoral Bill, explaining that results are still first recorded manually on Form EC8A before being uploaded to the IReV portal.“The presiding officer will fill Form EC8A manually at the polling unit. That same form is what is transmitted or uploaded to IReV. Even if you change the word ‘transmit’ to ‘upload’ in the 2026 Electoral Bill, it does not alter the substance,” he said.Adegbonmire, who is also Chairman of the Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters, warned that persistent misconceptions about IReV could undermine public confidence and peaceful coexistence in the country.He emphasised that the Senate never directed INEC to abandon the use of IReV for the 2027 general elections, describing claims to the contrary as deliberate misinformation.“IReV is not where you go to see how you voted,” he added. “It is a platform for publishing results already declared at polling units. This debate should not be driven by emotions or misinformation.”The senator also addressed calls for the Senate to adopt the House of Representatives’ version of the Electoral Bill, noting that the provision in question merely restates that results should be electronically transmitted to IReV after Form EC8A has been duly completed and signed at the polling unit.According to him, the Senate’s position remains clear: while electronic transmission of results enhances transparency, Nigeria has not yet developed the technical and institutional capacity required for full-scale electronic voting. Attached Images: 8583194cb4a85dfd982b3223534a89a4ca8722e502371f673c8ef5b369dc7403.jpg Attached Video: None