Nigerian lawmakers approve live publication of election results after backlash
Experts say public trust in the election process would improve if the country's polling units were forced to publish their results instantaneously.
Nigerian lawmakers on Tuesday overturned an earlier decision and approved the live publication of election results electronically as soon as voting ends at polling stations.
Last week, the Senate had rejected a move forcing polling stations to publish their election results electronically and in realtime.
The decision - coming a year before Nigeria's next general election - had sparked outrage in Africa's most populous country, with hundreds protesting outside the national parliament.
On Tuesday, the Senate "approved the electronic transmission of election results... after the completion of all statutory procedures at the polling unit," the upper house of parliament said after an emergency meeting on the subject.
It said the unanimous decision would boost "public confidence" and enable "citizens to follow the electoral process more transparently".
Improve public trust
Nigeria goes to the polls in the first quarter of 2027 to elect a president, most state governors, and both state and national lawmakers.
Over the past decade, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has introduced technology designed to improve the integrity of election results.
But this has had little success and post-election litigations are commonplace.
Experts say public trust in the election process would improve if the country's 176,000 polling units were forced to publish their results instantaneously on a centralised public website.
Voter apathy
Voter turnout in the country has been thinning over the last decade, as many people believe their vote isn't taken into account.
The 2023 presidential election recorded a turnout of just 27 percent, the lowest since the nation returned to democratic rule in 1999.
In May 2025, MPs were forced to scrap a bill that proposed a six-month jail term or a 100,000-naira ($73) fine for eligible voters who failed to cast their ballots, following a public outcry.