As the Senate reconvenes to revisit the contentious issue of real-time electronic transmission of election results, the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) has thrown its weight behind the adoption of the technology, insisting that the objections raised by lawmakers are not supported by modern engineering realities.
In a position paper released in February 2026, the NSE faulted the Senate’s earlier rejection of a proposal that sought to make mandatory the real-time transmission of results from polling units to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Result Viewing (ReV) portal.
The Senate had cited poor network coverage, cybersecurity concerns, infrastructure deficiencies and the risk of legal disputes arising from technical failures as reasons for retaining the existing provision that allows INEC to transmit results “in a manner prescribed by the Commission.”
However, the NSE said these concerns do not reflect the views of technically competent professional bodies, arguing that electronic transmission, if properly implemented, would significantly enhance the credibility, transparency and efficiency of Nigeria’s electoral process.
From an engineering standpoint, the Society noted that manual transmission of results remains highly vulnerable to manipulation, loss and tampering during physical movement of result sheets. It said electronic systems, supported by technologies such as end-to-end encryption and digital signatures, offer stronger safeguards for data integrity and minimise human interference.
The NSE also dismissed concerns about feasibility, stressing that advances in telecommunications—including 4G, 5G and satellite connectivity—can support real-time uploads even in hard-to-reach areas, while offline data caching can address temporary network outages.
According to the engineers, electronic transmission would drastically shorten collation and declaration timelines, replacing days of manual aggregation with automated processes that deliver results within hours.
On accuracy and accountability, the Society argued that digital record-keeping reduces transcription errors common in manual systems and provides robust audit trails. It pointed to emerging tools such as timestamped digital ledgers, dashboards and application programming interfaces (APIs) that enable transparent verification of results by stakeholders.
While acknowledging the upfront costs of deploying electronic systems nationwide, the NSE said long-term savings would outweigh the investment through reduced spending on printing, logistics and manual handling. It added that scalable, cloud-based infrastructure could efficiently manage Nigeria’s more than 176,000 polling units with built-in redundancy.
Drawing on international examples, the Society referenced countries such as Estonia and India, where electronic transmission of election results has been successfully integrated into national electoral frameworks.
“The Nigerian Society of Engineers believes that adopting real-time electronic transmission of election results, within INEC’s existing technological framework, will significantly strengthen Nigeria’s democracy,” the statement said.
Consequently, the NSE formally declared its full support for the real-time electronic transmission of election results, urging lawmakers to align legislative decisions with contemporary technological realities as deliberations resume in the National Assembly.
The statement was signed by the President of the Society, Engr. Ali Alimasyua Rabiu.
