A civil society group, Leadership Orientation and Basic Rights Advocacy Centre (LOBRAC), has called on the 10th Senate under the leadership of Senate President Godswill Akpabio to save Nigeria’s democracy by approving amendments to clause 10, section 3 of the proposed Electoral Act amendment bill, seeking to compel real-time electronic transmission of election results.
In a statement, LOBRAC condemned the controversies surrounding the Senate’s failure to promptly approve the vital change to the 2022 Electoral Act, which conferred discretion on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on the mode of transferring election results from polling units, citing the failure as detrimental to Nigeria’s democratic advancement.
The communique, which was jointly signed by the group’s Executive Director, Barr. Stanley Okafor, and the National Secretary, Barr. Franklin Asiegbu noted that the issue of electronic transmission of election results, as currently contemplated by the relevant section of the Electoral Act Amendment Bill, stands at the bedrock of efforts to solidify Nigeria’s democratic credentials.
The group warned that any attempt to thwart approval of that essential provision would amount to a dangerous plunder of Nigeria’s democracy.
In a subsequent chart monitored by correspondents, Okafor noted that it was alarming that the upper house of the National Assembly had chosen to toy with the aspirations of millions of Nigerians for election credibility by avoiding such an essential amendment.
“The matter which the Supreme Court of Nigeria had poignantly alluded to following litigation in the aftermath of the 2023 presidential election ought to be seriously reviewed with a view to avoiding its repetitive loopholes.
“Section 60 of the current electoral Act stipulates manual recording of election results from polling units, and thereafter transfer of the results, and subsection 5 thereof confers discretion on INEC on the mode of conducting such transfer, and Nigerians are therefore united in rejecting that discretion which INEC currently enjoys and which has caused a serious dent in the outcomes of our elections.
“INEC must be compelled by law to transmit election results by electronic means from the polling units, and the Senate’s avoidance of that essential amendment is a pivotal threat to our democracy”, Okafor added.
The group said it would join all well-meaning Nigerians, including labour unions, in persuading the upper house of the National Assembly to heed the collective will of Nigerians on this important matter.
