Former Minister of Education, Oby Ezekwesili, has warned Nigerian senators that retaining ambiguities in the amended Electoral Act is “playing with fire,” as citizens continue to demand real-time electronic transmission of election results from polling units.
Speaking on Friday, Ezekwesili reacted to the Senate’s passage of the bill amending the Electoral Act, following hours of debate and controversy over provisions governing the electronic transmission of results and the discretionary powers granted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
“I think the fundamental issue is that the Senate retained Section 60, subsection 5 of the INEC 2022 Act, which became infamous for the loophole that eroded public trust in the commission,” she said.
Ezekwesili recalled the assurances given by INEC ahead of the 2023 general elections, particularly to young voters, which were not fulfilled.
“The chairman of INEC repeatedly assured especially the young people of this country that they would have the ability to follow election results in real time via online transmission into the INEC results viewing portal,” she said.
According to Ezekwesili, the failure to implement real-time electronic result uploads became a major factor in public suspicion and legal challenges that undermined transparency in the electoral process.
