The presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 election, Peter Obi, on Monday led a group of protesters to the National Assembly, demanding the inclusion of mandatory electronic transmission of results in Nigeria’s Electoral Act amendment.
The protesters gathered at the entrance of the National Assembly to express their grievances over the removal of clauses mandating electronic transmission of election results.
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They carried placards with inscriptions such as: “Akpabio don’t destroy our democracy,” “Say no to electoral fraud,” “Akpabio don’t dare the masses,” “stop betrayal of the ballot,” “The Senate must prioritise citizens over politics,” “The conference committee must protest the integrity of Nigeria’s electronic.”
Aside from Mr Obi, other human rights activists, including Aisha Yesufu, convener of the Bring Back Our Girls movement, and several others, were present at the protest.
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In the past few days, Nigerians have been intensely debating amendments to the Electoral Act passed by the Senate last Wednesday.
Although several provisions of the law were amended, public attention has largely focused on one controversial clause which is the rejection of electronic transmission of election results from polling units to the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) Result Viewing Portal (IREV).
Public opinion has been largely divided. However, many political parties, politicians and social media users have condemned the amendments and urged lawmakers to reconsider them.
Some civil groups and activists have since been calling for protests at the National Assembly.
A group operating under the banner Enough is Enough was seen on socila media mobilising supporters using the hashtag #OccupyNASS.
Amid the criticism, the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, at a book launch on Saturday admitted that the lawmakers deliberately removed the provision for mandatory real-time electronic transmission of results during the clause-by-clause consideration of the amendment bill.
Mr Akpabio explained that lawmakers took the decision due to concerns that enforcing real-time transmission could lead to legal disputes in the event of network failures during elections.
Obi speaks at protest
Addressing journalists at the protest, Mr Obi urged members of the National Assembly to reconsider the amendment and include mandatory electronic transmission of results.
The former presidential candidate said the country had suffered the consequences of flawed elections in the past and must not repeat such experiences.
“The president must hear, we have suffered the danger. That’s what we have suffered before. We don’t want any glitch again. We want things to come back to normal. No more glitch,” he said.
Call for impeachment
Mrs Yesufu, on her part, called for the impeachment of Mr Akpabio if the Senate under his leadership refuses to make electronic transmission of election results mandatory.
“The fact that he’s the senate president only added responsibility. Impeach him if he does not want to do what the people want, that’s all,” she said.
READ ALSO: EDITORIAL: Electoral Reforms: What is the Senate really afraid of?
The activist said Mr Akpabio ought to prioritise the wishes of the masses and hold the executive arm or government accountable, accusing him of failing to do so.
“You’re the one that told us that you’re helpless, you’re not helpless, Nigerians voted for you, you’re the activists in government, you’re supposed to fight for Nigerians, you’re supposed to hold the executive accountable. So, do not come and be playing on us as if you’re helpless,” she added.
Mrs Yesufu also referenced the controversial Senate vote approving emergency rule in Rivers State, urging lawmakers to apply the same resolve to the inclusion of mandatory electronic transmission of election results.
“The National Assembly has the rights to pass law. They can have their two-third. We were sitting here when they were moving for Rivers emergency rule, the way they found that two-third, they must find it to pass the electronic transmission,” she said.
She further called on INEC to be independent and transparent in its operations to safeguard Nigeria’s electoral system.
PREMIUM TIMES reported that amid the controversy over the passing of the Electoral Act Amendment Bill, the upper chamber will be holding an emergency session on Tuesday.
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