"We Have 5G for TikTok But Not for Votes?” — Telcos Slam ‘No Infrastructure’ Excuse as Tinubu Signs Electoral Act 2026, Insist 3G/4G Is Enough for Real-Time Result Transmission
In a moment of political theatre that has reignited Nigeria’s perennial debate over technology in elections, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu signed the Electoral Act 2026 (Amendment) into law at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, setting the legal framework for the 2027 general elections. While the signing was hailed by government insiders as a milestone for electoral reform, it has quickly become fuel for controversy — dominated by arguments over telecommunications infrastructure, real-time election results transmission, and the role of human oversight in count integrity.
What makes this episode especially dramatic is not just the political rhetoric, but the bold denial by Nigeria’s biggest telecom operators that the country lacks the communications backbone necessary to support electronic transmission of election results — including into real-time or near-real-time environments. In fact, industry executives insist that Nigeria’s network capacity is more than sufficient — even stronger than what is required for everyday activities like social media use and mobile banking.
Telecom Operators Call Out “Infrastructure Excuses”
Nigeria’s leading telecom companies — MTN Nigeria, Airtel Nigeria, Globacom, and T2 Mobile — united under the umbrella of the Association of Licensed Telecom Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) to strongly reject claims made by some senators and lawmakers that the country’s network infrastructure is too weak to support real-time result uploads.
According to ALTON chairman Engr. Gbenga Adebayo, assertions that Nigeria is unprepared are based on “half-truths” rather than current data from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) — the industry regulator. The operators pointed out that:
Over 70 % of Nigeria now has active 3G and 4G mobile network coverage. These networks are significantly more capable of data transmission than the bare minimum required for results uploads from polling units.
5G network rollout, though still in its early stages, is present in key urban centers, indicating technological progress beyond the most basic connectivity infrastructure.
Even 2G networks — which are ubiquitous nationwide — are technically capable of transmitting election result data, because the volume of data needed to upload signed result forms (like EC8A) is low compared with what typical social media apps and online banking already use.
This robust rebuttal from telcos essentially challenges the narrative that Nigeria lacks “massive broadband infrastructure” for election result transmission. The operators argued that if the network can reliably support banking, streaming, mobile messaging, and popular social platforms, it certainly has the bandwidth and latency capacity to transmit voting results from polling units to collation centers.
Real-World Network Growth: The Data Speaks
Emerging statistics from the telecom sector support the operators’ claim of growing national connectivity. According to recent reports, Nigeria’s total telecom subscriptions exceeded 112 million by December 2025, reflecting sustained digital engagement across the country. This milestone went hand in hand with broadband penetration surpassing 51 % for the first time, meaning more than half of the population now accesses the internet through smartphones, tablets, or other connected devices.
This growth is important for election result transmission because:
Increased broadband penetration means more areas have at least basic internet connectivity.
Mobile network expansion — particularly 3G and 4G services — offers the kind of latency and speed previously believed insufficient for “real-time” uploads.
As network coverage and device usage grow, the capacity to deploy electronic transmission protocols like BVAS (Bimodal Voter Accreditation System) and upload results to instruments like INEC’s IReV portal improves.
Taken together, these developments challenge the idea that Nigeria must wait for a far stronger broadband footprint before implementing comprehensive electronic result transmission.
The Legal and Political Tug-of-War
Despite telcos’ assurances, the political class remains divided. During the legislative process, a key fight was over whether electronic transmission should be made mandatory — including real-time uploads directly from polling units the moment results are finalized.
The House of Representatives pushed strongly for mandatory electronic transmission, arguing that it would build public trust and cut down on result manipulation. However, the Senate took a more cautious approach, arguing that infrastructure, especially in rural or underserved regions, remains uneven enough that real-time transmission could disenfranchise voters in areas without reliable internet.
This led to a compromise in the final Electoral Act 2026, which permits electronic transmission but maintains manual collation and signed result forms (EC8A) as the legal fallback. If the network fails or is unavailable, manual results remain valid and are later transmitted when connectivity returns.
The outcome reflects a broader political calculus: technology is encouraged but not legally enforced as the primary means of result reporting everywhere at all times.
Tinubu’s Emphasis: Technology Supports Humans, Not Replace Them
President Tinubu, in signing the Electoral Act 2026, emphasised that while technology has a role to play, elections remain fundamentally human processes. He pointed out that voting, counting, collating, and result announcement are all conducted by people — from the voter who marks a ballot to the presiding officer who signs the EC8A form.
Tinubu went further to say that electronic transmission mechanisms should augment human oversight rather than replace it, precisely to avoid glitches, interference, or overreliance on digital systems that depend on consistent power and connectivity.
This stance reinforced the deliberate design of the Electoral Act — one that blends manual authenticity with electronic verification capability. It also positioned the government as taking a cautious yet progressive approach, rather than rushing into full automation at the expense of inclusivity or reliability.
INEC’s Clarification on “Real-Time” vs. Post-Polling Uploads
Adding another layer to the discussion, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) clarified that the term “real-time transmission” is not technically accurate for the current systems. What exists is a process where results are uploaded after voting, counting, and signing at polling units — not as ballots are cast.
This nuance is critical because it differentiates between:
Live streaming or instantaneous updates during voting, and
Electronic upload of verified results after the conclusion of polling unit activity.
INEC’s official line confirms that the system used — BVAS and EC8A forms uploaded to IReV — has been in place since 2022 and routinely transmits results once data is entered and connectivity is available.
This clarification supports the telcos’ argument that the latency and bandwidth needed for this process are comparatively modest, especially when compared with video streaming, mobile gaming, or other high-bandwidth applications already common in Nigeria’s network use.
Conclusion: Connectivity Is Not the Real Issue — Political Will Is
The electrifying debate surrounding the Electoral Act 2026 has revealed a striking paradox: Nigeria’s network may be strong enough to support electronic result transmission, yet political actors continue to debate whether real-time uploads should be legally mandatory.
Telecommunications operators have pushed back hard against narratives of inadequate infrastructure, asserting that Nigeria’s 3G, 4G, and emerging 5G networks — even in their current state — are adequate for meaningful electronic transmission of election outcomes.
Meanwhile, government and electoral officials view technology as an important enhancement that must be balanced with practical realities — including rural connectivity gaps and the need for manual verification as a safeguard.
Ultimately, the core question emerging from this debate isn’t whether Nigeria has the technical capacity — but whether there is political will to leverage the available infrastructure to the fullest extent for increased transparency, accountability, and trust in the democratic process.
One thing is clear: Nigeria’s network can probably handle the task — but whether the law, politics, and public confidence evolve fast enough to match it is another story altogether.
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