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

Speaking shortly after assenting to the bill at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, the President said the focus should be on ensuring a transparent process that avoids confusion and disenfranchisement.

“It’s not as important as the history aspects of this. What is crucial is the fact that you manage the process to the extent there will be no confusion, no disenfranchisement of Nigerians, and that we are all going to see democracy flourish,” Tinubu said.

He stressed that regardless of technological innovations, elections are ultimately conducted and concluded by human beings.

“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,” he added.

Addressing concerns over real-time transmission of election results, the President noted that final declarations are made by designated electoral officials, not computers.

“In fact, 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,” he said.

Tinubu also raised questions about Nigeria’s broadband capacity and technical readiness to support nationwide real-time electronic uploads, warning against potential glitches and cyber interference.

He reiterated that voting in Nigeria remains fundamentally manual, from ballot issuance to counting, explaining that what is transmitted electronically is the arithmetic record captured in Form EC8A after manual collation.

“It’s just the arithmetic accuracy that is to enter into Form EC8A. The transmission of that manual result is what we’re looking at,” he said.

The amendment became the subject of intense debate in the National Assembly, particularly over whether electronic transmission of results should be made mandatory in real time.

While the House of Representatives passed a version requiring real-time electronic transmission from polling units, the Senate retained electronic transmission provisions but allowed manual collation as a fallback where technology fails.

Under the final version signed into law, results are to be electronically transmitted after Form EC8A is signed and stamped at polling units. However, where electronic transmission fails due to network challenges, the manually signed result form will serve as the basis for collation and declaration.

The Senate’s position drew criticism from opposition parties and civil society groups, who argued that the fallback provision could create room for manipulation.

Despite the controversy, Tinubu expressed confidence that Nigeria’s democracy would continue to grow, saying the country would “continue to nurture this democracy for the fulfilment of our dream for the prosperity and stability of our country.”