Senator Seriake Dickson, a ranking member of the Senate Committee on Electoral Matters, has defended the recent modifications to the Electoral Act Amendment Bill. He asserts that the omission of the phrase “real-time” does not compromise the integrity of electronic result transmission or diminish electoral transparency.
In a recent interview with ARISE News, Dickson emphasized that despite the linguistic change, the bill still mandates the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to upload polling unit results to its Result Viewing Portal (IREV). He framed the Senate’s decision not as a “loss for democracy,” but as a necessary legislative evolution.
While the Senate restored the electronic transmission requirement under Clause 60(3) following public outcry, they maintained a “fail-safe” proviso: manual collation remains permissible in the event of total network failure. Critics fear this creates a loophole for interference, but Dickson contends that the primary objective—legally enshrining the IREV process—has been secured.
Dickson, speaking in his personal capacity, argued that “real-time” is a superfluous term in a system where voting remains manual. To him, transparency is anchored in the EC8A form; as long as the law compels presiding officers to transmit these results, the foundation for a credible election exists. Though he personally opposes the network-failure proviso, he acknowledged it as a product of parliamentary compromise, viewing the mandatory nature of electronic transfer as an “incremental gain” for Nigerian democracy.
