Major opposition parties have jointly condemned the Senate’s rejection of mandatory real-time electronic transmission of election results, describing it as a retrogressive act capable of derailing Nigeria’s democracy.
In a joint press statement issued on Thursday, February 5, spokespersons of the Peoples Democratic Party, African Democratic Congress, and New Nigeria Peoples Party accused the APC-controlled Senate of deliberately preserving loopholes to manipulate future elections.
The statement was signed by Ini Ememobong, National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Bolaji Abdullahi, National Publicity Secretary of the ADC, and Bamofin Ladipo Johnson, National Publicity Secretary of the NNPP.
“With this anti-people and anti-democratic action, we are concerned that the APC-led Senate may have set Nigeria’s democracy back by many decades,” the statement read.
The opposition parties questioned why the ruling party would oppose electronic transmission of results while simultaneously deploying technology for its ongoing e-registration exercise.
“We are at a loss as to why a party that is currently deploying technology to run an e-registration of their members across the country is averse to using technology to transmit results,” they said.
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The parties accused the APC of fearing defeat at future polls.
“They know Nigerians are fed up with them. They are aware of the rejection that awaits them at the forthcoming polls.
“A free and fair election has therefore become a threat to them. This is why they have to preserve and protect any loopholes that could aid the manipulation of the electoral process to their advantage.”
The statement referenced Supreme Court judgments from previous elections that cited the absence of mandatory electronic transmission in the Electoral Act 2022, noting that the Senate had failed to fix this gap.
“With this rejection, the Senate has returned Nigeria to square one,” the parties declared.
They urged the conference committee to adopt the House of Representatives’ position supporting mandatory electronic transmission, calling on members to “act as statesmen, who should have the next generation in mind.”