Electoral Act: Amaechi joins protest at National Assembly

By Lawrence Agbo

Rotimi Amaechi, a former governor of Rivers State and former minister of transportation, joined demonstrators at the National Assembly Complex in Abuja on Tuesday to call for the proposed Electoral Act modification to require real-time electronic transmission of election results.

Amaechi was seen standing among demonstrators demanding that their demands be fulfilled in a video posted on Tuesday by X user #ImranMuhammed.

The demonstration takes place in the wake of continuing debates over the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill amendment in advance of the general elections in 2027, specifically regarding whether or not the Independent National Electoral Commission should be required to electronically broadcast results from polling places in real time.

Meanwhile, some lawmakers have argued that the option should remain discretionary, citing logistical and infrastructure difficulties, even though many Nigerians have called on lawmakers to make real-time electronic transmission mandatory.

Despite several clarifications issued by the Senate to address what it termed “misinformation”, testers have refused to be influenced, arguing that the lawmakersuse a clear term to prevent manipulation and ensure that INEC cannot exercise discretion in transmitting results.

Speaking at the protest, Amaechi said, “People are dying, they don’t care. Senator Akpabio will be in his mansion with police, with army protecting him while people like us will be on the field. And they’re rigging the election.

“But you know one funny thing? If you think they won’t rig, you’re wasting time. To stop them from rigging, we must come out in large numbers.”