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From Okwe Obi, Abuja
Following the ongoing protest on the Electoral Act, the National Civil Society Council of Nigeria (NCSCN) has warned protesters against overheating the polity.
NCSCN Executive Director, Blessing Akinlosotu, who briefed journalists yesterday in Abuja, said they should not allow agents of political parties and thugs to hijack the protest.
On Monday, protesters gathered at the National Assembly and demanded the inclusion of real-time electronic transmission of election results from polling units in the ongoing Electoral Act amendment process.
The Senate on Tuesday reversed itself and amended clause 60(3) to mandate electronic transmission of results from polling units to IReV after EC8A forms might have been signed and stamped.
However, Akinlosotu contended that senators opposing the real-time upload cited poor network coverage and logistical challenges, especially in rural areas, which could lead to disputes and undermine electoral credibility.
He said: “They further asserted that hacking and even breakdown could truncate the entire process, going by the global menace of cyber insecurity.
“Electronic transmission remains part of the law, and results will continue to be available to the public both electronically and through physical forms, ensuring verifiable records for disputes.”
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According to him, some democratically advanced countries do not use real-time transmission of election results.
He stated: “Votes are still counted by humans in big democracies, as done in Nigeria; most of them use BVAS and IReV. Pakistan and Bangladesh tried to use real-time electronic transmission of results but quickly backtracked and returned to manual compilation of election results when massive uproar greeted the process from opposition parties.
“Brazil is the world’s biggest democracy using real-time electronic transmission of results, yet almost all its elections conducted using this system are disputed to the Supreme Court.
“Venezuela is using real-time electronic transmission of results, but Venezuelan elections are rated as some of the most fraudulent globally.”
He said the major actors in the nationwide agitation and protest to the National Assembly were card-carrying members of political parties; hence, they should not disguise themselves as civil society leaders or activists.
“We may not be where we wish to be yet; however, we must collectively consolidate the gains made so far, rather than overheating the polity and taking steps that may lead to anarchy or breakdown of law and order, as was experienced in the First and Second Republics.
“The council therefore calls on all civil society organisations to dissociate themselves from the ongoing protests,” he said.
