Former Vice President, , has described the Nigerian Senate’s rejection of mandatory real-time electronic transmission of election results as a deliberate assault on electoral transparency and a grave setback to democratic reform.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, Atiku said the decision represents a calculated blow against transparency, credibility, and public trust in Nigeria’s democratic process.
The former presidential candidate criticised the Senate for declining to adopt compulsory real-time electronic transmission of results, arguing that at a time when democracies around the world are strengthening their electoral systems through technology, Nigeria appears to be clinging to provisions that preserve opacity and potential loopholes.
According to him, real-time electronic transmission of results is not a partisan demand but a democratic safeguard designed to reduce human interference, limit result manipulation, and ensure that votes cast at polling units are faithfully reflected in the final outcome.
“To reject mandatory real-time transmission and instead retain the 2022 Electoral Act provision on electronic transmission amounts to a face-saving measure that signals an unwillingness to subject elections to full public scrutiny,” the statement read.
Atiku further noted that the decision raises troubling questions about the commitment of the ruling political establishment to conducting free, fair, and credible elections in 2027.
He alleged a recurring pattern in which reforms that strengthen transparency are resisted, while ambiguities that may benefit incumbency are preserved.
The former Vice President maintained that democracy must evolve in line with technology and the legitimate expectations of citizens, stressing that elections should be determined by voters and not by manual delays, procedural excuses, or judicial interventions.
He called on Nigerians, civil society organisations, the media, and the international community to take note of what he described as a regression and to continue demanding an electoral system that meets modern democratic standards.
“Nigeria deserves elections that are transparent, verifiable, and beyond manipulation. Anything less is an injustice to the electorate and a betrayal of democracy,” Atiku stated.
