By PERPETUA ONUEGBU

A former Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Mr Mike Igini, has stressed the need for Nigeria to fully embrace electronic transmission of election results as a critical safeguard for electoral integrity and democratic accountability.

Igini stated this while delivering a keynote address at a Yiaga Africa roundtable, themed: “Electronic Transmission and Electoral Integrity: Safeguarding the Vote under the Electoral Act 2026,” on Friday in Abuja.

While noting that democracy thrives on citizens’ participation and accountability, Igini emphasised that credible, periodic elections remained the foundation for the peaceful transfer of power and the ability of citizens to shape their collective destiny.

He reaffirmed the constitutional independence of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), citing provisions of the 1999 Constitution that empowers the electoral body to regulate its procedures without external control.

The former REC said that INEC’s adoption of technological innovations over the years—including the Smart Card Reader and Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS)—marked significant progress in addressing electoral manipulation and improving transparency.

He recalled that pilot electronic transmission of results had been successfully conducted in Cross River, describing the introduction of BVAS and the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV) as milestones that had raised public confidence and expectations for more transparent elections.

Igini, however, expressed concern over the proviso in Section 60(3) of the Electoral Act 2026 which retains the manually-signed Form EC8A as the primary source for result collation despite electronic transmission.

He described the provision as a setback capable of undermining the gains recorded through technological reforms.

Igini referenced the Supreme Court’s characterisation of IReV as a viewing portal, maintaining that such interpretation conflicts with INEC’s constitutional powers to determine its procedures.

He warned that conditional electronic transmission could weaken transparency, contribute to voter apathy and erode public trust in the electoral process.

Highlighting the benefits of electronic transmission, Igini said real-time result uploads would enhance transparency, reduce human error and strengthen the credibility of election outcomes.

He nonetheless acknowledged the challenges, including infrastructure gaps, cybersecurity concerns and resistance from political actors.

Igini called for strategic investment in technology, stronger security safeguards and broader stakeholder engagement, urging INEC to communicate more openly with citizens on contentious electoral issues.

He also urged the judiciary to uphold the rule of law, stressing that the viability of democracy lies in a very courageous and independent judiciary that would be ready to call justice by its own name.

“Sensitivity of the law is key to the practice of democracy. Justice Ademola once said judges should not be seen to blow muted trumpets. They must stand tall and mighty in defence of democracy and the rule of law.

“Democracy without the rule of law is the coming together of vicious men who will come together to take what they want; when the court fails to hold political elites accountable, it fails,” Igini said.

He further stated that electronic transmission should be regarded as an essential pillar of Nigeria’s democratic framework rather than a mere technological upgrade.

The former REC argued that leveraging digital innovation would deepen accountability, rebuild public trust and ultimately ensure that the will of the electorate was accurately reflected in election outcomes.

On his part, the organiser of the roundtable, Samson Itodo, called for greater clarity and transparency in Nigeria’s electoral result management process, particularly regarding the real-time electronic transmission of election results, ahead of the 2027 general elections.

Itodo, the Executive Director, Yiaga Africa, said that the recent public debates around electronic transmission of results had exposed critical weaknesses in the country’s electoral system.

He noted that while stakeholders continued to demand improved transparency through technology, controversies surrounding the legal framework for results transmission still remained unresolved.

Itodo expressed concern over the National Assembly’s position on election result management, describing those aspects of the legislation as problematic.

“For us at Yiaga Africa, and I’m sure our position aligns with other stakeholders, that the position that the National Assembly took on results transmission or results management is problematic.

“We want to, again, use this opportunity to reiterate that that particular position is problematic for a couple of reasons.

“The first one is that we are unsure of the hierarchy placed on different results, whether it is the EC8A or the electronically-transmitted results,” he said.

The executive director alleged that multiple versions of Section 63 of the proposed Electoral Act are currently in circulation.

He, therefore, urged the National Assembly and other relevant authorities to make the 2026 Electoral Act publicly available to ensure that citizens understand the legal provisions guiding elections.

He acknowledged that technological innovations such as electronic transmission platforms and result viewing portals had the potential to significantly improve electoral transparency in the country.

Itodo, however, warned that without strong accountability and integrity safeguards, the same technologies could fuel distrust among voters.

He noted that the challenges observed during the 2023 general elections and subsequent polls were evidence of the need for stronger regulatory and operational frameworks.

According to him, citizens’ confidence in whether their votes count is closely tied to the credibility of results management systems and ultimately affects the legitimacy of electoral outcomes.

“There is the need for clear regulatory regimes to guide the deployment and use of electoral technologies under the evolving legal framework,” Itodo said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the roundtable, which had past INEC Resident National Commissioners, civil society organisations and other stakeholders in attendance, was convened to stimulate discussions and build consensus among key stakeholders on strengthening electoral integrity in Nigeria. (NAN)