Senator Jimoh Ibrahim, a Nigerian lawmaker representing Ondo South Senatorial District in Ondo State, southwestern Nigeria, has said the Nigerian Senate’s recent changes to the country’s election law were based on an existing judgment of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, the nation’s highest court.
In a statement released on Sunday, 8 February 2026, Ibrahim said the controversy around the amendment was “unnecessary and misplaced,” arguing that the Senate only gave legal backing to what the Supreme Court had already decided. Okay News reports that he spoke at the University of Fortune in Igbotako, a town in Ondo State, during a visit by Political Science scholars who congratulated him on his appointment as an Ambassador-Designate.
The senator pointed to the Supreme Court’s decision in the Atiku v. Independent National Electoral Commission (No. 2) case, delivered on Friday, 29 December 2023. He said the ruling settled important issues related to the powers of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Nigeria’s electoral body, as well as questions on the validity of election results, locus standi, and the legal status of the Independent National Electoral Commission Result Viewing Portal (IReV).
“The Supreme Court clearly indicated what should be captured in future legislation. The Senate only implemented that historic judgment. We did nothing wrong; there is no fire anywhere,” Ibrahim said.
He said the court clarified that the Electoral Act 2022 did not clearly make real-time electronic transmission of results compulsory, meaning the law did not remove INEC’s discretion on how results could be transmitted.
Ibrahim added that the Senate’s intervention was aimed at removing uncertainty in the Electoral Act, Nigeria’s main law guiding elections, including voting, counting, and the handling of results.
On the Independent National Electoral Commission Result Viewing Portal (IReV), he said the Supreme Court held that the platform is not recognised by the Electoral Act as a legal requirement, describing it instead as an administrative tool created by INEC to support its work.
He also said the court rejected any attempt to manipulate election outcomes through technology.
According to him, the judgment stressed that where results are compromised through technological means, such conduct should not be accepted, and he said the amended law reflects that position.
The lawmaker said the amended Electoral Act now reinforces the view that a failure or inability to upload results to the IReV portal in real time does not automatically invalidate an election or cancel the manual collation process, which involves tallying results from polling units through the official collation system.
Ibrahim said the Senate, led by Senate President Godswill Akpabio, the head of Nigeria’s upper legislative chamber and a key figure in the country’s parliament, remains committed to transparency and democratic accountability.
He added that the legislature continues to serve as a check on the executive and judiciary, in line with the separation of powers, a principle that divides authority among branches of government.
The senator urged politicians to focus on winning elections through the support of voters rather than relying on legal or legislative tactics.
“If we do not respect the opinion of the Supreme Court,” he asked, “who else do we respect?”
His remarks followed the Senate’s passage of the Electoral Act 2022 (Repeal and Re-enactment) Amendment Bill, 2026, which passed third reading on Wednesday, 4 February 2026.
During the bill’s consideration, the Senate voted down Clause 60(3), which sought to make it mandatory for presiding officers to electronically transmit results from polling units directly to the IReV portal in real time.
Instead, the Senate retained a provision that allows electronic transfer of results only after votes have been counted and publicly announced at polling units, leaving the timing and method to discretion.
The decision has drawn criticism from civil society organisations and opposition figures, who describe it as a setback to Nigeria’s democratic development and efforts to strengthen confidence in election outcomes.
However, Senate President Akpabio defended the Senate’s action at a public event, saying the upper chamber did not reject electronic transmission of results and insisting lawmakers would not be intimidated.
Meanwhile, the Senate has scheduled an emergency plenary sitting for Tuesday, 10 February 2026, in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, where federal lawmakers meet to debate and pass national legislation.
