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By Lawrence Agbo
Human rights activist and former presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore, has insisted that the electronic transmission of election results must be made mandatory in the Electoral Act to prevent manipulation and legal loopholes.
Speaking on Morning Brief on Channels Television, Sowore argued that anything short of compulsory real-time transmission from polling units would leave room for political actors to exploit loopholes in court.
“What we demanded was mandatory electronic transmission. If the law does not expressly state that it is compulsory, they will go to court and argue that it is optional,” he said.
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Sowore expressed concern that the Senate’s version lacks strong mandatory language despite the House of Representatives’ earlier support for real-time uploading of results from polling units using the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) to INEC’s Result Viewing (IReV) portal.
He further warned that ambiguity in drafting could weaken electoral reforms during post-election litigation.
“Judges rely strictly on the wording of the law. If the Act does not clearly state that transmission is mandatory, it becomes vulnerable to interpretation,” he added.
