President Bola Tinubu on Wednesday defended his decision to sign the Electoral Act 2026 (Amendment) into law, stressing that the credibility of elections depends more on proper management and human oversight than on real-time electronic transmission of results.

Speaking shortly after the signing at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, Tinubu acknowledged ongoing debates over whether election results should be transmitted live from polling units, but maintained that the integrity of the process rests with designated electoral officials.

“It’s not as important as the history aspects of this. What is crucial is that the process is managed so that there will be no confusion, no disenfranchisement of Nigerians, and that democracy flourishes,” he said.

The President emphasised that elections, regardless of technological systems adopted, are ultimately conducted and concluded by people.

“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,” Tinubu said.

Addressing concerns about real-time transmission of results, he said the final outcomes are determined by human officials, not computers. He also raised questions about the country’s broadband capacity, suggesting that technical limitations must be considered when implementing electronic election systems.

Tinubu reiterated that voting remains essentially a manual process, from the issuance of ballot papers to casting and counting. “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, thumbprint your choice, and cast your vote without interference. Ballots are subsequently counted manually, sorted, and counted manually,” he added.

According to the President, the electronic transmission involved is essentially a record of arithmetic results captured in Form EC8A after manual collation. He stressed that this is designed to avoid glitches, interference, and hacking in an increasingly digital world.

“Nigeria will flourish. We will continue to nurture this democracy for the fulfillment of our dream for prosperity and stability,” Tinubu said.

The amendment to the Electoral Act has been the subject of intense public and legislative debate, particularly over whether election results should be transmitted in real time from polling units to the INEC central server.

While the House of Representatives initially passed a version mandating real-time electronic transmission, the Senate retained electronic transmission provisions but allowed manual collation as a fallback where technology fails. This compromise drew criticism from opposition parties, civil society groups, and reform advocates who argued that ambiguity remained.

Tinubu reiterated: “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.”

Under the final law, results are to be electronically transmitted after Form EC8A is signed and stamped at polling units, but if transmission fails due to network issues, the manually signed form will serve as the official basis for collation and declaration.