₦airaland Forum

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, on Sunday said the National Assembly approved a hybrid system of electronic and manual transmission of election results in the amended Electoral Act to prevent voter disenfranchisement and reduce apathy ahead of the 2027 general elections.

Abbas explained that Nigeria’s limited internet penetration and unstable power supply made it impractical to rely solely on real-time electronic transmission across the country.

The Speaker spoke while receiving the Ambassador of Spain to Nigeria, Ambassador Felix Costales, during a courtesy visit to his office at the National Assembly complex in Abuja.

According to a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Musa Krishi, Abbas received the envoy alongside the Chairman, House Committee on Appropriations, Abubakar Bichi; Chairman, House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Wole Oke; and Chairman, Nigeria-China Parliamentary Friendship Group, Jafaru Yakubu.

The statement noted that the Spanish envoy also indicated that Spain operates a system that allows manual transmission of election results.

Abbas assured that, based on his engagement with the leadership of the Independent National Electoral Commission, the 2027 general elections would be more credible and inclusive.

On the Electoral Act, the Speaker said,”Sometimes, people scream far beyond the exact level of the issue. A lot of people think that we need to embrace electronic transmission in real-time in Nigeria, but within the very little period that you’ve been in Nigeria, you should be able to speak on the quality of our internet network. You should know that even in advanced cities like Abuja, you are not guaranteed stable internet services all the time.”

He continued, “Based on the NCC report, they said Nigeria is still underserved by almost 40 per cent, which means 40 per cent of territories at large in Nigeria are not covered by the internet. Now, tell me, for those who are saying we should go ahead and do that, already, if you look at the number of our registered voters in this country, it is alarming.

“It is sad to say that even with the manual arrangement we are using, we are only able to capture about 12-15 per cent of registered voters who, after every four years, come to vote. That’s voter apathy. Very few people go out to vote.”

According to him, exclusive electronic transmission could further suppress participation. “Now, if we are to introduce only the electronic system, it will further reduce the number because 40 per cent of the country will probably not be able to vote as they don’t have adequate internet services. It means what we should be expecting is not only disenfranchising the voters—denying some people the right to vote—we will also record, perhaps, the lowest number of voters in the next elections.

“These are all avoidable. That is why we said, in our wisdom, the Electoral Act should be hybrid—a combination of both the manual and electronic systems. Where it is feasible to use the electronic transmission, use the electronic transmission; where it is not possible, use the manual, because there is no way one form, particularly the electronic, can be used entirely in all parts of the country for the elections.”

The Speaker further argued that even critics of the provision were aware of the country’s infrastructure limitations.

“The opposition, even though they know the truth—are Nigerians, they live in Nigeria, they travel all over Nigeria—they know that the level of internet penetration in Nigeria is inadequate. There is no way you will be able to have transparent elections using an inadequate system, and through our energy crisis in the country as well, we do not have enough electricity.

“The internet is always backed by energy. How do you power the entire country on the day of the election to have phones that are working and internet that is working, backed by adequate electricity? All those are challenges that, for now, will not be able to provide us the opportunity to do transmission in real time online.”


Abbas described democracy as a gradual process that improves over time. He said, “In our entire democracy, we will continue to improve year after year, election after election. I believe Nigeria, with the support of countries like Spain, will do better.

“We expect you to continue to guide us and give us all the technical advice and support to do better, particularly in the National Assembly, through collaboration between your country and our parliament. It will go a long way in strengthening our competence, particularly in areas of legislative drafting and so on. I believe that with what you have in Spain, Nigeria can benefit a lot.”

He added that Nigeria was making steady progress despite existing challenges. “You cannot say you have everything that you require. You keep on learning. We believe that Nigeria is not doing badly, even though it may not be at the rate that the international community would want to see, but we are moving slowly and gradually.”

Earlier, Costales said his visit was aimed at strengthening legislative diplomacy and deepening bilateral ties between Spain and Nigeria. He said Spain would closely monitor Nigeria’s electoral process and support efforts to strengthen democratic institutions.

“You can count on us—whatever we can do to deepen Nigerian democracy. Yes, there may be challenges, but you can count on us in any way possible.”

The envoy also noted that political polarisation was a global phenomenon. He said, “Sometimes when you dig down, you realise that the issues are not that big, or not as big as they seem in the public discourse. It happens a lot in Spain… At the end of the day, if you want to move forward in democracy, you have to reach some level of compromise. We have to try to rule and govern on the level of consensus.”

PUNCH Online reports that President Bola Tinubu recently assented to the amended Electoral Act passed by the National Assembly as part of reforms aimed at improving the credibility and inclusiveness of future elections, particularly the 2027 general polls.


The amendment clarifies the legal framework for the transmission of election results, authorising the use of both electronic and manual methods depending on the availability of infrastructure and operational feasibility.

The reform has generated debate among political actors and civil society groups, with supporters describing the hybrid model as pragmatic, while critics argue that it could weaken transparency if not properly implemented and monitored.

Brendaniel:
To create room to cheat na, if political parties can have situation room where they gather their results from all polling units in real time, why can't INEC with over 1 trillion naira budget not have even better real time transmission.

Meanwhile I asked AI this question, if you are a Peter Obi supporter and a good Nigerian, don't let anyone deceive you.

Rindo69:
"Abbas explained that Nigeria’s limited internet penetration and unstable power supply made it impractical to rely solely on real-time electronic transmission across the country"

Of course... but bandits have "Internet penetration" in the forests to post their tik tok videos. There is Starlink and probably by 2027, there'll be Amazon Leo but we must find excuses to keep manual transmission cos this is the only way 12 can turn to 1200 or even 12000.

Evergrind:
Una no just rate Nigerians

Brendaniel:
To create room to cheat na, if political parties can have situation room where they gather their results from all polling units in real time, why can't INEC with over 1 trillion naira budget not have even better real time transmission.

Meanwhile I asked AI this question, if you are a Peter Obi supporter and a good Nigerian, don't let anyone deceive you.

seunowa:
One question you need to ask yourself is if that tik tok video is real-time because many of you have slow and low understanding.

infotrust:
Opposition party, the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) has demanded that it is time for the country to embrace electronic voting in order to ensure the integrity of its elections and hand over the elections back to Nigerians instead of the judiciary.

In a statement issued on Sunday, by the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, ACN declared that with electronic voting, the overall cost of elections will be less and there will be stability in the polity.

Referring to the overwhelming deployment of security operatives during elections, the party added that the atmosphere of war usually associated with elections will disappear and the involvement of the security agencies will be de-emphasized.

Admitting that Section 52 (2) of the Electoral Act bans the use of electronic voting for the time being, ACN urged the National Assembly to move quickly to amend that part of the law while it called on the federal government to provide INEC with all the resources needed to make electronic voting a reality.

”While electronic voting is not a magic wand, it is the surest way for Nigeria to join the league of countries that have wiped out electoral fraud, which is the worst form of corruption. It is also the best way to hand over Nigeria’s elections back to Nigerians, instead of having the judiciary determine who wins what contest. Two years is long enough to achieve this,” ACN said.

The party noted that Ghana, which has organized perhaps the best elections in this part of the world, has realized it can no longer continue with manual voting; hence it did not wait for troubles associated with electoral malfeasance to break out before embracing electronic voting during its last general elections in December.

”It is not just enough for us to sit back in envy while the world hails our neighbor Ghana for being a model in electoral rectitude and participatory democracy. Let us ask ourselves what we need to do differently, to shed our toga of electoral fraud and brigandage”

”Yes, there were some hiccups during the last elections in Ghana, which were conducted with electronic voting. But Ghana quickly moved to correct whatever problems came up. The system also allowed Ghana to extend voting without fearing that ballot boxes will be hijacked or stuffed,”

ACN said it is true that Ghana’s last presidential election that was conducted with electronic voting is currently being challenged in court, ”to the best of our knowledge, that’s the only case being contested in court since the elections ended.”

”It is totally unacceptable and indeed an anomaly for a nation of 160 million people to hand over the determination of its elections to a few ‘wise’ men and women on the bench.”

“One result of Nigeria’s successive failed elections is that it has brought corruption to the judiciary. It is time to free judges to do their duties and allow Nigerians to play more roles in determining who governs them,” it said.

The party pledged its support for e-voting stating that ”we assure INEC of our full support towards using electronic voting in 2015.”

It also appealed to other political parties, Civil Society Organizations and all Nigerians to join it in pushing for a system that will “eliminate the role of thugs and side line vote thieves during our elections, in addition to making our elections free, fair and credible” the statement read.

http://www.channelstv.com/home/2013/01/13/acn-demands-use-of-electronic-voting-for-2015-elections/

Brendaniel:
To create room to cheat na, if political parties can have situation room where they gather their results from all polling units in real time, why can't INEC with over 1 trillion naira budget not have even better real time transmission.

Meanwhile I asked AI this question, if you are a Peter Obi supporter and a good Nigerian, don't let anyone deceive you.

Nextjs:
They are criminals.


We need electronically transfer of results

The BVAS is used to valid voters before they vote. Which uses network.

The BVAS is also configured to store data n transmit immediately network is restored

akpumping7720:
Point us to the infrastructures or remain quiet forever. At least Millennium schools built by Tinubu are still in existence till today which some of your uncles and aunts benefited from.

jaxxy:
Obi has gone to join a political coalition which 80% chance will not give him the presidential ticket so what will this comparison do for us now Is the issue.

Obi couldn't stay or grow labour party, left it in chaos for a packaged coalition not an organic coalition.

He needs to to consult his Obidents movement and do his political calculations well.

He needs the coalition but the coalition may not want to field him as their presidential candidate and that indecision has killed momentum..

Brendaniel:
just a few listed below here

phemray:
Funny you, so your AI was available during Tinubu as a governor and Obi to know details of Thier performances. Their real legacy performances are on the ground for those of you children of that time to see and know the truth.

Go to each state and asked who did this and that then you will get to know the fact.

akpumping7720:
Hope you are aware that it has been bursted that miracle centres thrived during Obi's regime? That aside, where are the schools he built from scratch that are still in existence?