The Senate has rejected mandatory electronic transmission of results, leaving democracy at the mercy of discretion and delay.
Abuja, Nigeria – There is fire on the mountain.
What the Nigerian Senate passed today in the name of “electoral reform” is nothing short of a rigging playbook for the 2027 general elections.
Under the leadership of Senate President Godswill Akpabio, the Senate considered the Electoral Act, 2022 Repeal and Enactment Bill 2026. It had a historic chance to permanently shut the door against election manipulation by making real-time electronic transmission of polling unit results mandatory, automatic, and transparent.
They refused.
Instead, they kept the vague, dangerous wording from the 2022 Act: that results shall be transmitted “in a manner prescribed by INEC.”
That single line is where Nigerian democracy will once again be strangled in 2027.
That clause means results can be delayed. Uploads can be paused. “Technical glitches” can be invented at will. Figures can be altered in transit. And Nigerians will be left in the dark until the damage is done.
This is not oversight. This is design.
The discretion that clause grants is the very loophole used to undermine the 2023 elections. It is the legal cover under which votes are switched, voices are silenced, and mandates are stolen.
The Senate had the opportunity to end this. They chose instead to protect a system that works only for those in power—a system that cannot win in a free, fair, and truly transparent contest.
We are being dragged back to the era of “grab it, snatch it, run with it.” Back to the days when election results were not announced but negotiated; not transmitted but manufactured.
Do not be fooled. This is not reform. It is regression dressed in legislative language.
The message from the Senate is clear: they do not trust technology, because technology trusts the people. They do not want transparency, because transparency exposes manipulation.
I am not happy. You should not be either.
We must raise our voices now—before this bill is harmonized and signed into law. We must demand that mandatory, real-time electronic transmission of results is included, without loopholes, without discretion.
If we allow INEC to once again decide “the manner” of transmission, we are not preparing for an election. We are preparing for a robbery.
The 2027 election is being rigged today. In broad daylight. In the hallowed chambers of the Senate.
Will we let it stand?
About the Writer:
This editorial reflects the independent opinion of a concerned citizen and contributor to Òkun Reporters.
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