A member of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Kenneth Okonkwo, has strongly criticized the Nigerian Senate, saying the new amendment to the Electoral Act is a trick that could harm democracy.
In a statement shared on Tuesday, Okonkwo accused the Senate led by Godswill Akpabio of weakening the law on electronic transmission of election results.
He reacted to the amendment of Section 60 of the Electoral Act, which allows election results to be sent electronically but also permits manual collation when electronic transmission is said to be impossible.
Okonkwo particularly faulted a proposal by Senator Mohammed Monguno, which allows manually filled Form EC8A to be used if electronic transmission fails. According to him, this makes electronic transmission optional instead of compulsory.
He warned that the amendment gives room for excuses such as “technical glitches,” similar to what happened during the 2023 presidential election, when INEC said it could not transmit results electronically.
Okonkwo insisted that Nigerians want electronic transmission to be mandatory, adding that any election where results cannot be transmitted electronically should be cancelled and repeated, just like what the law says about BVAS failure.
He called on Nigerians to reject the amendment, warning that allowing manual results could destroy the credibility of elections in the country.
Meanwhile, Senate President Godswill Akpabio said the amendment requires presiding officers to upload results to the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IREV) after Form EC8A has been properly signed and stamped.
Post a Comment