Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, has condemned the Nigerian Senate’s decision to reject real-time electronic transmission of election results, describing it as a deliberate assault on electoral transparency and a major setback for democratic reform.
In a statement issued on Thursday, Atiku said the move represents a calculated blow to credibility, accountability, and public trust in Nigeria’s electoral process, warning that it entrenches a system historically vulnerable to manipulation, tampering, and post-election disputes.
“At a time when democracies across the world are leveraging technology to strengthen electoral integrity, the Nigerian Senate has chosen the path of opacity protecting loopholes and preserving a system that rewards ambiguity,” he stated.
He stressed that real-time electronic transmission of results is not a partisan demand but a democratic safeguard, noting that it minimizes human interference, curbs result manipulation, and ensures that votes cast at polling units are accurately reflected in final outcomes.
According to him, the Senate’s reliance on what he described as a face-saving interpretation of the 2022 Electoral Act signals a reluctance to subject elections to genuine public scrutiny.
“This decision raises serious questions about the commitment of the ruling political establishment to free, fair, and credible elections in 2027,” Atiku warned.
The former presidential candidate in 2023 general election added that Nigerians have observed a consistent pattern in which reforms that enhance transparency are resisted, while ambiguities that favour incumbency are deliberately preserved.
Reiterating his long-held position, Atiku said democracy must evolve with time, technology, and the legitimate expectations of the people, insisting that elections should be determined by voters not by manual delays, backroom alterations, procedural excuses, or judicial interventions that override the popular mandate.
He called on Nigerians, civil society groups, the media, and the international community to take note of what he described as a dangerous regression and to continue demanding an electoral system that meets modern democratic standards.
“Nigeria deserves elections that are transparent, verifiable, and beyond manipulation. Anything less is an injustice to the electorate and a betrayal of democracy,” he said.
