BENIN CITY — Former Senate Chief Whip and chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Sir Rowland Owie, has strongly criticised the Nigerian Senate’s decision to reject a proposal mandating the electronic transmission of election results in the 2027 Electoral Bill, describing it as a major setback for electoral transparency and public trust.
In a statement personally issued in Benin City on Thursday, Senator Owie said the Senate’s action represented a deliberate weakening of mechanisms designed to guarantee free, fair, and verifiable elections.
The Senate had, on Wednesday, voted against an amendment to Clause 70(3) of the Electoral Amendment Bill, which sought to make electronic transmission of results compulsory. Senate President Godswill Akpabio later clarified that the existing provision—allowing the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to transmit results “in a manner as prescribed by the Commission”—was simply retained.
However, Owie faulted this explanation, saying it leaves dangerous loopholes and preserves ambiguity in the nation’s electoral process.
“I condemn, in the strongest and most unequivocal terms, the decision of the Nigerian Senate to reject the mandatory, real-time electronic transmission of election results,” Owie said.
“This decision represents a profound setback for electoral reform and an unfortunate capitulation to opacity at a time when Nigeria should be consolidating democratic trust.”
He argued that across the world, technology is being used to deepen transparency and restore faith in elections, but Nigeria’s lawmakers have instead chosen to maintain a system prone to manipulation and abuse.
“Real-time electronic transmission of results is not a radical idea—it is a democratic necessity,” he stressed. “It limits human interference, curbs post-election tampering, and ensures that the will of the voter, as expressed at the polling unit, is accurately reflected in the final declaration.”
Rejecting such a safeguard, Owie said, signals “an unwillingness to subject elections to full public scrutiny” and raises serious questions about the political class’s commitment to credible elections in 2027.
He added that democracy must evolve in line with modern technology and citizens’ expectations.
“Elections must be decided by voters—openly, promptly, and verifiably—not by delays or backroom manipulations,” Owie asserted.
He urged Nigerians, civil society groups, the media, and the international community to take note of this regression and continue demanding reforms that meet global democratic standards.
“Nigeria deserves elections that are transparent, verifiable, and beyond manipulation. Anything less is an injustice to the electorate and a betrayal of the democratic promise,” he concluded.
