Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has criticised the Nigerian Senate for rejecting real-time electronic transmission of election results, warning that the move threatens electoral transparency ahead of the 2027 polls.
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has condemned the Nigerian Senate’s rejection of real-time electronic transmission of election results, describing the decision as a deliberate assault on electoral transparency and a tactic that favours incumbents. In a statement signed by his Media Office on Wednesday night, the African Democratic Congress (ADC) chieftain said the move represents a major setback for electoral reform and undermines public confidence in Nigeria’s democratic process.
Atiku warned that the Senate’s action runs contrary to global democratic trends, stressing that technology-driven electoral processes are essential to credible elections. He said, “This ill-advised action represents a grave setback for electoral reform and a calculated blow against transparency, credibility, and public trust in Nigeria’s democratic process. At a time when democracies across the world are strengthening their electoral systems through technology, the Nigerian Senate has chosen to cling to opacity, protect loopholes, and preserve a system that has historically enabled manipulation, tampering, and post-election disputes.”
He further argued that real-time electronic transmission of results is a non-partisan safeguard designed to protect voters’ choices. According to him, “Real-time electronic transmission of results is not a partisan demand; it is a democratic safeguard. It reduces human interference, limits result manipulation, and ensures that the will of the voter—expressed at the polling unit—is faithfully reflected in the final outcome. To reject it, and adopt the 2022 provision on so-called electronic transmission of results is to signal an unwillingness to submit elections to public scrutiny,” adding that the decision raises troubling questions about the commitment of the political establishment to free, fair, and credible elections in 2027.