Federal commissioner mocks protesters demanding real-time election results transmission

Imo Akpan, a federal commissioner with the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), on Monday, mocked protesters who stormed the National Assembly demanding legal backing for real-time transmission of election results.

He later denied authorship of the comment after PREMIUM TIMES asked him why he chose to mock those exercising their right.

Mr Akpan, who represents Akwa Ibom State on the RMAFC, made the remark in the comment section of a Punch newspaper Facebook post in which the paper published photos of protesters at the National Assembly clutching mattresses and pillows.

“Sleep no catch anybody for dia. They got up in minutes. Sunshine for Abuja no get time for protesters,” Mr Akpan, through his verified account, commented in Pidgin English on the Punch Facebook post, apparently ridiculing the protesters.

The protesters, drawn from civil society organisations and pro-democracy groups, had converged at the National Assembly to demand that lawmakers entrench mandatory real-time electronic transmission of election results in Nigeria’s electoral law, arguing that it is critical to electoral transparency and public trust.

The protesters argue that real-time transmission of results from polling units would reduce manipulation, enhance transparency, and strengthen confidence in Nigeria’s electoral process, especially after controversies surrounding the uploading of results during previous elections.

While the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) already uses electronic result viewing portals, protesters insist that legal backing of real-time transmission of results must be included in the electoral law after the Supreme Court dismissed petitions that cited INEC’s regulations of result transmission on grounds that it was not in the country’s Electoral Act of 2022.

‘This is strange’

When PREMIUM TIMES contacted Mr Akpan on Monday evening, he denied making the comment. He said he was unaware of it and asked that the post be sent to him.

After a screenshot of the comment bearing his name and profile was shared with him via WhatsApp, the commissioner replied, “This is strange.”

He did not respond further when asked to clarify what he found strange about the shared comment.

Shortly after the exchange, our reporter observed that the comment had been deleted from the Punch Facebook post’s comments section.

The incident is the latest in a series of public remarks by Mr Akpan that have drawn criticism from advocates of electoral reform.

On Sunday, the commissioner had dismissed Nigerians demanding real-time transmission of votes as “latter-day democracy champions.”

“For latter-day democracy champions: please mention countries on earth where election results are ‘transmitted in real time,’” he wrote in a separate Facebook post.

His remarks sparked sharp responses from journalists, lawyers and others, many of whom recalled his vocal pro-democracy stance while he was in opposition.

Ibanga Isine, a multiple award-winning journalist, responded by questioning the commissioner’s apparent shift in tone.

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“Imo, time changes and people change because of so many reasons. I know what you would have said to anyone who would have said what you say here when you were in opposition. Sometimes, it is better to be silent, and that is why silence is said to be golden,” he wrote.

Similarly, Ekemini Udim, a legal practitioner, lamented the disappearance of Mr Akpan’s activist voice. “I miss Barr. Imo (the voice of opposition that time). He would have been on the radio dissecting the law, the necessity and the socio-political angles since the news broke,” he said.

Mr Akpan, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, is a strong supporter of the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio. Mr Akpabio nominated him to the RMAFC.