Former Deputy Governor of Sokoto State, Mukhtar Shagari, has cautioned against rushing to implement real-time transmission of election results in Nigeria, arguing that the country lacks the necessary infrastructure to support such a system effectively.
Speaking during an interview on Arise Television on Friday, Shagari emphasized that while electronic transmission of results is a positive development in principle, it should only be adopted by nations equipped with reliable supporting systems.“E-transmission of election results is good.
"But this is done in countries that have the necessary things available to transmit,” Shagari stated. “In Nigeria we must admit that we have a lot of challenges. We must acknowledge that we have challenges in electricity. We have challenges even in transmission of television, I mean services and all this kind of thing and so on so forth.”
He urged policymakers not to hurry the process, stressing the need to first address ongoing issues in Nigeria's electoral system.“So I believe that we should not be in a hurry to start transmitting election results real-time. We should try to make sure that we perfect our elections because we still have problems as far as our elections are concerned. We are learning,” he added.
Shagari drew a comparison to the United States, noting that even a country with over two centuries of democratic experience has faced difficulties with result transmission.“Don’t forget that even America that has over 200 years of democracy is still having problems in transmitting election results. It has happened during the administration of President George Bush,” he said.
“So America, with all its experience in elections, technology and so on, could not have a perfect election when it comes to issues of transmission of results, let alone Nigeria.”His remarks come against the backdrop of recent controversy in the Senate, which reportedly rejected a proposal in the Electoral Amendment Bill to make real-time electronic transmission of results mandatory.
The Senate passed the bill while retaining provisions similar to the 2022 electoral framework, allowing the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) discretion in transmission methods rather than enforcing compulsory real-time upload.
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