Senate’s rejection of electronic transmission of results retrogressive, anti-democratic, opposition parties

By Lateef Ibrahim Abuja

Major opposition political parties in the country have kicked against the Senate’s rejection of the proposal to make mandatory real-time electronic transmission of results at the polling units, describing it as retrogressive, anti-people and anti-democratic action.

The major opposition parties-the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), African Democratic Congress (ADC) and New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP,) made their position known in a statement jointly issued and signed by the National Publicity Secretaries on Thursday in Abuja.

In the statement signed by Comrade Ini Ememobong (PDP), Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi (ADC) and Bamofin Ladipo Johnson (NNPP), the opposition parties

expressed concerned that on, the APC-led Senate may have set Nigeria’s democracy back by many decades.

They reasoned that the action is capable of derailing the nation’s hard-earned democracy.

The opposition partiessaid that it is therefore not surprising that it (the rejection) has deservedly attracted widespread opposition and condemnation from Nigerians across all divides.

The statement reads, “Yesterday (Wednesday), the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria passed the amendment to the Electoral Act 2022, wherein, among other things, it rejected the proposal to make mandatory real-time electronic transmission of results at the polling units.

“The grave implications of this retrogressive act by the Senate has compelled us as spokespersons of the major opposition political parties to jointly address this issue, which is capable of derailing our hard-earned democracy.

“With this anti-people and anti-democratic action, we are concerned that on, the APC-led Senate may have set Nigeria’s democracy back by many decades.

“It is therefore not surprising that it has deservedly attracted widespread opposition and condemnation from Nigerians across all divides.

‘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.

We therefore harbour no doubts about the intention of the All Progressives Congress (APC), which is in firm control of the two chambers of the National Assembly.

“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.

“However, regardless of their party affiliation, we would have expected the Senators to rise above party sentiments and act in the best interest of democracy, for which the legislature remains its most important symbol.

But as usual, they failed the people they are supposed to represent.

“In the last election, we are witnesses to the plethora of cases where the court, especially the Supreme Court, held that there was nowhere in the principal Act, which is the Electoral Act 2022, where electronic transmission was made mandatory and therefore the act is lacking of legislative parentage.

“This immediately signalled a lacuna that needed to be urgently fixed to ensure that future elections do not suffer the same fate.

“However, beyond providing a basis for judicial action in future, the electronic transmission will increase transparency, trust and belief in the electoral process, which in turn will deepen and consolidate democracy in our country. With this rejection, the Senate has returned Nigeria to square one.

“The ball is now in the court of the conference committee, and we strongly urge its members to align themselves with the Nigerian people by adopting the position of the House of Representatives on mandatory real-time electronic transmission of election results.

“They should not act as politicians, whose eyes and thoughts are only on the next elections, but as statesmen, who should have the next generation in mind.

“We are trusting that they will act in the best interest of the people, to forestall the negative consequences that may be result in foisting anti-democratic laws on the people”, the statement concluded.