Before the harmonization of Electoral Act amendment

Let me start today’s article by saying that every general election in Nigeria is as good as the law guiding its conduct. If the law is deficient, the electoral process is bound to be flawed. On the other hand, if the law is efficient, the process is very likely to be flawless. We all witnessed the shoddiness that characterized the 2023 general election in the name of technical glitches, voter suppression and intimidation and other avoidable infractions. Nigerians want to avoid such a situation in 2027 general election. That is why they are asking for mandatory electronic transmission of election results in real time in 2027 poll. That is the only this democracy can be entrenched.

One issue that has dominated public discourse in the week is the passage of the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill 2026 at the Senate, especially the mode of transmission of election results. Initially, the Senate had retained Section 60 (3) of the Electoral Act 2022, which states that “the presiding officer shall transfer the election results in a manner as prescribed by the commission.” This drew the ire of Nigerians, including civil society organizations and opposition politicians who protested in Abuja for days before the Senate quickly revised it and endorsed electronic transmission of election results without making it mandatory or real time. It also made a proviso that in the case of failure of technology, manual transmission of results should be used.

The ambivalence of the Senate did not go down well with many Nigerians, who still insist on mandatory electronic transmission of election results in real time. The House of Representatives had earlier endorsed its version which states “the Commission shall electronically transmit the results from each polling unit to the IREV in real time.” This version appears to resonate with the majority of Nigerians than that of the Senate, which is ambiguous and allows for dual modes of transmission of election results, which Nigerians see as a recipe for disaster.

The Senate provision for manual transmission of results, which in advanced democracies is the ideal, is capable of being abused in our own peculiar circumstance. There are also fears that the network may be forced to fail so that manual collation and transmission of results with its adequacies will hold sway. Nigerians no longer have confidence in manual collation of election results because that has been the epicentre of poll rigging, manipulation and monumental fraud. It is in a bid to forestall massive rigging and manipulation of election results that Nigerians have endorsed mandatory electronic transmission of election results in real time.

Since the Senate did not do what the people want, we call on the harmonization committee, comprising members of the Senate and the House of the Representatives to rise to the occasion and do the right thing. In The Wretched of the Earth, Frantz Fanon observed that “each generation must, out of relative obscurity, discover its mission, fulfill it or betray it.” Let these wise men not betray its mission. What is at stake is the future of Nigeria. What is at stake is the future of our democracy. What is at stake is the survival of our country. It is the survival of our democracy and not the survival of self or personal gain.

In making our laws, let us be guided by the needs and feelings of the people, the citizens. We must remember the cry of the people. Let our lawmakers remember those who voted them into the National Assembly and do what will please them. They should bear in mind that the power to vote them in or out belongs to the people and this power is renewable every four years.

At a time other countries are thinking of going to the space and other scientific innovation and wonders, we are foot-dragging over mandatory electronic transmission of election results in real time, something that will improve the integrity of our electoral system. Let our politicians see beyond themselves and what they think they can gain from any system. They should consider the needs of the people they represent and stop lording it over them or speaking to them condescendingly. If power truly belongs to the people, the lawmakers should do the bidding of the people.

In this case, the bidding of the people is not too much. It is very simple. The people are asking for “mandatory electronic transmission of election results in real time.” This is the least they expect from the harmonization committee and nothing more. The people did not ask for rice, beans, bread or money. They only ask for the transparency of the electoral system so that their votes must count. They want their wishes and aspirations to be respected. There is nothing wrong in making the process of our election transparent, credible and believable to all, including the winners and losers in our elections.

How could elections losers congratulate the winners as INEC chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, had promised, if the electoral process is tainted? No loser of an election will congratulate the winner if he was rigged out. The lawmakers should make the work of INEC easier by endorsing the mandatory electronic transmission of election results in real time. Those of them now asking the real meaning of “real time” should check their dictionaries. The meaning is not vague or ambiguous.

Although our lawmakers are elected to make good laws for good governance and oversight functions, lawmaking involves the lawmakers and the citizens as well. Our input is necessary in lawmaking. In this Electoral Act amendment, our input is mandatory. It is not obligatory. Our politicians should stop taking the citizens for granted and behaving as if our views do not matter. They should change such a mindset. Like them, we have a stake in the Nigerian project. Nigeria belongs to all of us. We must build it together.

If our politicians can really understand the enormity of the power of the people, they should stop treating the masses with disdain. Do we need a protest by the opposition and other Nigerians before the Senate could reverse itself by a little? Must the citizens fight for everything? Who really benefits from credible polls? Our nation-building is still a work in progress. Having a transparent and credible election is still part of it.