The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has asked the national assembly conference committee to adopt the version of the Electoral Act amendment bill passed by the House of Representatives, which provides for real-time electronic transmission of election results.
Last week, the senate passed the Electoral Act amendment
bill but rejected a proposal on real-time electronic transmission of election
results to the Independent National Electoral Commission’s result viewing
portal (IReV) —a move that has sparked protests and calls for lawmakers to
reverse the decision.
On Tuesday, the upper legislative chamber rescinded its
decision and approved the electronic transmission of election results to IReV,
with a clause that manual collation should serve as a fallback if the
technology fails.
In a statement, Ini Ememobong, PDP spokesperson, criticised
the senate’s decision to permit manual collation in the event of a
technological breakdown.
Ememobong said the addendum amounts to a “backdoor attempt”
to dilute the push for full electronic transmission, arguing that manual
transmission is already sufficiently provided for under the existing 2022
Electoral Act.
The PDP spokesperson said the demand for electronic
transmission is intended to create a second layer of authentication that
prevents the alteration of results before they reach collation centres — a
practice he described as a longstanding flaw in Nigeria’s electoral process.
He questioned the logic of permitting manual transmission,
noting that the bimodal voter accreditation system (BVAS) is successfully used
for accreditation during elections.
“It is inconceivable that the same BVAS technology which
undertakes accreditation throughout an election would suddenly become
unreliable for the transmission of results and accreditation data arising from
that same exercise,” the statement reads.
Ememobong further accused some senators of resisting
electronic transmission out of political fear that it would curb the
manipulation of results.
“They must be reminded that Nigeria is bigger than their
narrow personal and political interests,” he said.
The PDP spokesperson urged members of the conference
committee, which will harmonise the differences in the version of the amendment
passed by both chambers, to adopt the house of representatives’ position if
they are committed to credible elections in 2027.
Ememobong advised Nigerians to remain steadfast in demanding
real-time electronic transmission of results, saying the country’s democracy
should not be left solely in the hands of politicians.
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com