2027: Transmission debate exaggerated, political parties should be prepared – Nenadi Usman

By Jude Opara

National Chairman of the Labour Party, (LP), Senator Nenadi Usman, has said that the controversy surrounding the accompanying proviso to Section 60(3) of the Electoral Act 2022, which allows for manual transmission of election results, is exaggerated.

The LP chairman spoke at the ‘Live Citizens Town Hall’ on the new Electoral Act 2026, with the theme, ‘Electoral Act 2026: What it means for your vote and the 2027 elections’, held in Abuja at the weekend.

“While I commend the lawmakers for approving the electronic transmission of results to the IREV, I believe the controversy surrounding the accompanying proviso to Section 60(3) has been somewhat exaggerated,” she said.

She noted that concerns expressed by opposition parties, about the possibility that the fallback to Form EC8A in the event of network disruptions could be abused, but maintained that the success or failure of any political party at a polling unit ultimately depends on the party’s preparedness and presence at that polling unit.

“If political parties deploy well-trained, vigilant, and capable agents across all polling units, votes will be protected, properly documented, and accurately reflected on the INEC portal,” she said.

“A careful reading of the proviso to Section 60(3) shows that Form EC8A is the primary source data and so, should be countersigned by candidates or polling agents, where available. The key phrase here is ‘where available.’ ”

She said it is the responsibility of political parties to ensure that their agents are indeed available in every polling unit, reminding them that the IREV is primarily for viewing results and keeping records, not collation.

She added, “For us in the Labour Party, the lessons from the last presidential election have been instructive. We have come to realise that the foundation of electoral success lies in meticulous grassroots preparation, particularly the deployment of agents.

“That is why we are committing significant resources and energy toward ensuring effective representation across the 176,974 polling units nationwide. In the previous presidential election, despite our strong belief in our performance, we faced challenges substantiating certain claims, largely because we lacked comprehensive agent coverage capable of producing duly countersigned copies of Form EC8A from across the federation.

“Therefore, I firmly believe that if political parties strengthen their internal structures and perform their responsibilities diligently, the widespread anxiety over real-time electronic transmission as the sole guarantor of credible results becomes less compelling.

“It would amount to outsourcing the solution to our own organisational shortcomings if we rely exclusively on INEC while neglecting our critical role on election day.

“As a political party, we will work on getting our act right, believe in the law, present our candidates and win elections come next year, 2027 by God’s grace.”