Last week’s decision of the National Assembly to hurriedly pass the 2026 Electoral Amendment Bill and its eventual assent by President Bola Tinubu on Thursday is, to say the least, disappointing.
It’s disappointing not because we expected anything different, because that is the nature of our politics, sadly. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) did not fare any better in its 16 years in office. So, it will not be any different if any of the opposition parties were to be in power today.
It’s only a continuation of what we are already familiar with. Was anybody expecting anything different when it’s mostly the same people who were part of the PDP rot that are occupying the driver’s seat today?
The main political actors that are determining things today were all part of the PDP 16 years and APC eight-year rule under Muhammadu Buhari. In the end, it’s only a case of a battle for self-preservation, protection of class or group interests, and maintaining the status quo.
We all know this, and the self-deluding political class also knows that. This is not a case of a political party but rather a case of common interest among politicians that do not distinguish between party affiliations but the shared or common interests of politicians.
The fear today of the nation drifting towards a one-party state did not also begin today. Politicians have always gravitated to the centre for personal interests and political relevance.
The whole episode around the now assented 2026 Electoral Act is only a confirmation of the time-tested aphorism that, whereas the politicians think of the next elections, statesmen think of the next generations.
The shenanigans by our legislators last week is a confirmation that, indeed, the only thing on the minds of the Senator Godswill Akpabio-led National Assembly is retaining their political relevance and remaining in power.
However, what is most disappointing in all of these is the shambolic and crooked way they went about it. Their arguments not only sound silly, but it also shows that it’s either they are not as intelligent as we think they are or that they are taking us all for fools and as a people with short memories.
Prior to 2015, the APC did exactly or even more of what the opposition of today is demanding. Now, the APC is in charge, and they are muttering the very inchoate excuses of the PDP then as the same reason they are opposed to compulsory real-time transmission of election results in a world of today that is driven by technology.
If Senator Akpabio thinks that all that mumbo jumbo he has been quoted as having said from the beginning of this debate makes any sense, somebody should tell him how pathetic he sounds and looks whenever he speaks.
As we argued last week, the same constituencies from where these legislators come from and from where their election results were transmitted in real-time in 2023 are the same that cannot achieve the same feat four years after, how tragic.
Let nobody be deceived. This is a well-orchestrated plot that was perfectly executed. If a process was used and it was okay with the National Assembly results but had a glitch with the presidential election, the next logical thing to do is to identify what caused the glitch in an election that was held together and to improve on it and not recreate the very same circumstances that brought the impasse. We have simply retrogressed.
Has it occurred to us that now the process can be more easily subjected to manipulation because all it takes is for a presiding officer at the polling units to say there is no network, therefore, the transmission will be done later, by which time the form EC8A signed at polling units will no longer be recognised by party agents. Or who does not know that it’s at these collation centres where these alterations are done usually in the dead of the night?
For now, this 2026 Electoral Act has been perfected to serve the purpose of those in power today, but what they fail to realise is that the same lot will befall them when the tide turns tomorrow and they find themselves in the opposition.
What those in the opposition failed to address while in office is what is being denied them today.
In making their feeble excuses on behalf of the INEC and NCC concerning logistics and connectivity, is it not interesting to note that neither of the agencies was invited to brief the legislators on the true situation on ground?
Akpabio has again shown that he is incapable of thinking beyond himself. He should have it at the back of his mind that all those who will fall victim of the usual violence that characterise our elections come 2027 their blood will be on his head. He should know that all those electoral officers whose lives will be exposed to danger since we already know that there will be more network failures than ever, come 2027, history will hold him accountable.
For those still in doubt, let it be noted come 2027 there will be more network failures in Akwa Ibom, Rivers, Abuja, Edo, Lagos, Imo, Delta etc and most states where the ruling party is in control. Therefore, the outcome of elections will be determined by those results that couldn’t be transmitted in real-time at the polling units.
If this is what Akpabio’s incrementalist philosophy is all about, time will tell.
Imagine for a second, that these legislators have been approaching issues concerning insecurity, welfare of workers and retirees with the same swiftness and speed they dealt with the Electoral Act, if our lots will not be by far better. Has the Akpabio-led Senate ever cut short their holidays to attend to matters concerning any of the above?
What we want is a country where our elections are less contentious, violence-free, and more transparent, free and fair for all to see.
Those who fault this because they are currently benefiting from it will join us again to agitate, and be tear-gassed when the table turns against them tomorrow.
