Electoral Act Bill: Obi, Obidient supporters demand restoration of real-time result upload
Former Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate Peter Obi and members of the Obedient Movement yesterday joined civil society organisations in demanding for the inclusion the real time transmission of poll
Former Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate Peter Obi and members of the Obedient Movement yesterday joined civil society organisations in demanding for the inclusion the real time transmission of poll results in the Electoral Amendment Act Bill.
The protesters, who stormed the National Assembly, Abuja, urged the senators to desist from passing the bill without the restoration of real time upload into the IReV portal of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on poll day.
Among the protesters were members of the Yiaga Africa; Centre for Media and Society (CEMESO); The Kukah Centre; International Press Centre (IPC); Elect Her; Nigerian Women Trust Fund and The Albino Foundation (TAF Africa).
Lagos lawyer Chief Olisa Agbakoba (SAN) said in a statement in Lagos that the inclusion of the clause in the Electoral Act would block loopholes and enhance electoral transparency.
Last week, the Senate passed the Electoral Act 2022 (Repeal and Reenactment) Amendment Bill, 2026, but critics faulted the deletion of the phrase “real-time” from sections dealing with electronic transmission of results.
Today, the Senate is reconvening to pass its version of the bill.
The protesters vowed to also continue the protest today.
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The critics, who said the change could weaken safeguards against electoral manipulation, urged the Senate to restore the clause as reflected in the version passed by the House of Representatives
Although lawmakers have clarified that electronic transmission was not discarded, protesters insisted that the omission could open the door to post-election interference and undermine public confidence in the electoral process.
The protesters, who marched from the Federal Secretariat to the National Assembly displayed placards with inscriptions - “Our votes must count,” “No to electoral robbery” and “Defend democracy.”
They were, however, stopped at the main gate of the National Assembly by security operatives from the Nigeria Police Force, the Army and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, who blocked entry into the complex.
No room for glitches, says Obi
Obi, who spoke with reporters, decried what he described as the gradual weakening of democratic institutions, stressing that credible elections remain critical to national stability and development.
He added: “We must dismantle this criminality and prove that Nigeria can be a beacon of hope and light in Africa.”
Lamenting the glitches revorded during the 2023 presidential election, Obi insisted that the National Assembly must pass the proposed amendment to ensure transparency in next year’s polls.
He said: “What we want is an electoral process that is transparent from the beginning to finish. Let’s have an amendment that will allow free and credible elections”, he said.
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The National Coordinator of the Obidient Movement, Dr Yunusa Tanko, said the agitation would continue until lawmakers explicitly restore the real-time electronic transmission clause.
He said: “If there is no electronic transmission of results, there will be no election. Our elections must be credible.”
He argued that manual interference during result collation had historically undermined elections, adding that the electronic transmission was introduced to curb such practices after the 2011 and 2015 polls.
An activist, Randy Peters, accused the political class of betraying democratic ideals, saying that protesters would sustain pressure on lawmakers.
He said: “We will continue to return here until the Senate does the right thing. The struggle for June 12 was about free and fair elections.
“Are we afraid of losing elections? In 2027, our votes must count. That is the most important thing. We will be back here again tomorrow.”
The founder of The Albino Foundation, Dr. Jake Epelle, said the legal uncertainty created by amendments has deterred the electoral commission from releasing the timetable for the 2027 election.
He urged INEC to issue the election timetable and schedule for the 2027 election in accordance with the provisions of the Electoral Act 2022 without further delay.
Epele said: “This action would fulfil statutory obligations and insulate the commission from legal challenges; provide political parties, candidates and civil society with certainty necessary for systematic preparation and establish baseline timelines that subsequent amendments can modify through transitional provisions if necessary.
“Indefinite legislative resolution creates a vacuum that compounds administrative challenges and legal vulnerabilities.”
Epele urged the Senate to adopt the House of Representatives position mandating electronic transmission of election results at the plenary today.
He added: “We call on the conference committee members to approach the harmonisation deliberations guided by national interest, institutional integrity, and democratic accountability rather than narrow partisan calculations.
“We reiterate our recommendation that the National Assembly should expeditiously conclude the amendment process and transmit the final bill to the President within two weeks.
Utomi, Bugaje: we need electoral reformd
A group, the Movement for Credible Elections (MCE), called for urgent, non-negotiable electoral and political reforms ahead of next year’s elections.
The group warned that without significant reforms, the credibility of the elections would be at risk, thereby eroding public trust and increasing the likelihood of political instability.
At a press conference in Lagos, its leader, Dr. Usman Bugaje, a former House of Representatives member, pointed out that elections have become increasingly disconnected from voters’ will due to violence, voter suppression, vote-buying, inadequate logistics, inconsistent technology use, and result manipulation.
He said: “The National Assembly’s refusal to mandate electronic transmission is viewed as a deliberate effort to allow rigging and undermine the public will.”
Bugaje also called for an independent audit of INEC’s technological infrastructure, including BVAS, IREV, data storage, and cybersecurity systems, to be completed before the 2027 elections.
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Prof. Pat Utomi, one of the group’s national leaders, described Nigeria as “in deep crisis” and warned that the country is being pushed “dangerously to the brink.”
He urged citizens to “draw a line in the sand,” describing the situation as a choice between “collapse versus progress; life and death.”
He added: “Democracy dies when votes are stolen. It is time to end electoral rigging in Nigeria.”
At the press conference were former Nigeria Labour Congress President Comrade Ayuba Wabba, 2023 Social Democratic Party presidential candidate Prince Adewole Adebayo, Director of Administration Promise Adewusi, Director of Logistics Comrade Bala Zakka, and Head of the National Secretariat Olawale Okunniyi.
‘Reform beyond e-transmission of results’
The Executive Director of the Peering Advocacy and Advancement Center in Africa (PAACA), Ezenwa Nwagwu, said electoral reform is beyobd electronic transmission of results.
He urged lawmakers to move beyond cobsideration for electronic transmission of results to electronic collation and stronger engagement by political parties.
Nwagwu said on the television that while electronic transmission of results is important, it is insufficient on its own to guarantee electoral transparency and credibility.
He added: “The agitation around the Electoral Act amendment is positive because it shows increasing citizen oversight over governance,” Nwagwu said. “However, the ask should not stop at electronic transmission. It must also include electronic collation.”
He identified collation as the weakest link in Nigeria’s electoral process, warning that electronically transmitting results from polling units would not improve transparency if those results had already been compromised at source.
He stressed: “If results are manipulated at the polling unit through collusion among party agents, electoral officials and security personnel, uploading such results does not enhance electoral integrity,” he said, stressing the need to tie electronic collation directly to activities at polling units.
He also highlighted infrastructure challenges, particularly internet penetration, as a critical factor in implementing real-time electoral systems.
Nwagwu called for coordination among telecommunications service providers, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), and the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy to clearly map areas where real-time electronic processes can be reliably deployed.
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He said: “An election cannot be better than its infrastructure. We need transparent clarity on where real-time systems can work so that we do not solve one problem and create a bigger one.”
Agbakoba: real time upload, key to trust
Agbskoba said the adoption of real time upload of results will engender public trust and bridge the electoral loopholes.
He said the regulatory process should be backed adequately by law.
Agbakoba said in a statement that the 2023 election exposed a critical gap in the electoral legal framework, recalling that despite INEC’s deployment of the IReV portal for electronic transmission of results, the Supreme Court ruled that the innovation lacked legal force.
The human rights lawyer noted that the IReV portal serves merely for public viewing and is not admissible evidence of results in election petitions.
Agbakoba said: “The message was unmistakable: without explicit statutory provision, electronic transmission remains optional and legally inconsequential, no matter how transparent or efficient it may be.
This legal gap creates an insurmountable evidentiary burden in election petitions.”
He added:”If manual transparency could achieve such credibility in 1993, imagine the transformative impact of real time electronic transmission in our digital age in 2026.
“It would combine immediate verification with tamper proof digital records, delivering the same transparency with far greater efficiency, security, and verifiability.
The current legislative process represents a monumental opportunity for the National Assembly to resolve this fundamental issue before the 2027 general elections. Nigerians need a perfect framework for transparency and to restore confidence in the electoral process.
“Without this amendment, we risk perpetuating the same cycle of disputed elections, protracted litigation, and damaged democratic credibility that has plagued Nigeria’s Fourth Republic.
“The National Assembly must act decisively to embed mandatory real time electronic transmission of results in the Electoral Act, removing all ambiguity and closing the legal loopholes that have been exploited to undermine the people’s will. Democracy demands nothing less.”
