From Kenneth Udeh, Abuja
Abia North Lawmaker Senator Orji Uzor Kalu on Tuesday reaffirmed his place on the digital transmission of election outcomes, expressing each robust help for the Transmission course of and disappointment that some folks have misrepresented his previous statements in a five-year-old video.
His feedback got here shortly after an emergency plenary of the Senate to amend the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill, 2026.
Speaking after the session, Kalu affirmed his backing for the digital transmission of election outcomes from polling items throughout Nigeria.
He famous that the adoption of the amended Clause 60(3) now permits presiding officers to transmit outcomes electronically as soon as Form EC8A has been duly accomplished and signed at polling items.
“This means electronic transmission becomes the primary method where the technology is available and functional. However, where it fails or becomes impossible, the duly signed Form EC8A remains the valid and primary source of results,” Kalu mentioned.
“This balanced approach strengthens transparency, fairness, and credibility in our electoral process, while ensuring that voters in network-challenged communities are not disenfranchised. Our democracy must work for every Nigerian, everywhere.”
Kalu’s media workplace additionally addressed the circulation of a deceptive video purportedly displaying him opposing digital transmission.
The assertion emphasised that the footage, which reveals all Senators sporting face masks, dates again to the ninth Senate in 2020 throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
“At no point in the 10th Senate whether during public hearings, plenary deliberations, or executive sessions has Senator Orji Kalu opposed electronic transmission of election results,”.
“Senator Kalu, alongside the Senate President and many Senators across party lines, have consistently supported electronic transmission as provided for in Section 60(3)”the workplace mentioned.
Responding to questions from journalists, Kalu additional elaborated:
“No, to the best of my knowledge, the 10th Senate has progressed very well. Even Akpabio himself, the Senate President, never opposed transmission of results electronically. Ninety-five percent of Senators supported it.”
“What they are circulating is from five years ago in the 9th Senate, when we discussed limitations like lack of computers and power. I am surprised that people can be this cheap.”
“Even in closed sessions, I spoke for 15 minutes in support of electronic transmission. Nobody in the 10th Senate opposed it. The picture circulating is from six years ago and reflects the realities then, not now.”
“When a motion was brought to ‘transfer’ results electronically, it was a legal issue. The motion was withdrawn and replaced with ‘electronic,’ which the Senate adopted. Later, because of noise, some people did not hear the Senate President speak, so misconceptions arose.”
Tuesday’s Senate plenary noticed lawmakers rescind and re-amend provisions of the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill, 2026, to accommodate digital transmission of outcomes, with out making real-time add necessary. The pressure adopted a evaluate of Clause 60(3), days after a proposal to compel real-time transmission had been rejected.
After hours of debate, the Senate agreed that outcomes might now be transmitted electronically after the Form EC8A is signed and stamped at polling items. Where digital transmission shouldn’t be attainable attributable to community challenges, the signed EC8A will stay the first supply for collation and declaration of outcomes.
