Reps approve five-year jail term for false election results
The House of Representatives has approved a proposal introducing a five-year jail term for presiding officers found guilty of declaring false election results.
The amendment was adopted on Wednesday during the clause-by-clause consideration of a report seeking changes to the Electoral Act 2022.
Lawmakers also approved a provision mandating the real-time electronic transmission of election results from polling units to the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) Result Viewing (IReV) portal.
The approved clause states that a presiding officer “shall electronically transmit the results from each polling unit to the IReV portal in real time, after the prescribed Form EC8A has been signed and stamped by the presiding officer and countersigned by candidates or polling unit agents, where available.”
Under the existing law, INEC is not expressly mandated to transmit election results in real time.
Ahead of the last general election, the commission had pledged to upload results to the IReV portal in real time as part of reforms aimed at strengthening the credibility of the electoral process.
However, the portal remained inactive for extended periods in some polling units after voting had concluded, fuelling public suspicion and criticism.
In response, civil society organisations have repeatedly urged the National Assembly to make electronic transmission of results mandatory and introduce stiffer penalties for electoral malpractice.
In addition to the jail term provision, the House ratified a clause designating the bimodal voter accreditation system (BVAS) as the primary tool for voter accreditation.
