A former Resident Electoral Commissioner of INEC, Mike Igini, has said that Nigeria’s prolonged debate over electronic transmission of election results reflects unresolved legal, institutional and technological challenges despite years of electoral reforms.
Igini said this while warning that the recent legislative provisions on the issue could create confusion ahead of future elections.
THE WHISTLER reports that the Senate had amended the Electoral Act to allow electronic transmission of election results while providing contingencies for possible technical challenges during polls.
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The decision marked a shift from the chamber’s earlier position, when senators rejected compulsory electronic transmission of results directly from polling units to the Independent National Electoral Commission’s Result Viewing Portal (IREV).
The latest amendment then approved electronic transmission as part of the electoral process but omitted the “real-time” requirement.
They also stated that in the event of internet connectivity failure, the Form EC8A, the physical result sheet would remain the primary document for collation.
Speaking during an interview on Channels Television politics today on Monday, Igini expressed deep frustration over what he described as repeated setbacks in efforts to modernise Nigeria’s electoral process.
“It’s a painful and sad reality that after several years of collective efforts to give meaning and purpose to the ballots as the best means of the expression of the will of the people in a democracy as exemplified by processes, procedures, that we started developing since 2010 under the previous leadership down to the period of the last chairman, all aimed at taking a bilateral process on the poetry and rubric of pain and frustration.Here we are again.
“Several years after, we are still debating what has been long supposed to have been settled,” Igini stated.
“And that’s basically for the past two years, I have stood first, but I’ve decided to say goodnight to Nigeria, because after 30 years, the struggle for a better Nigeria, particularly having to be in the condition for 10 years, I consider all those 10 years with what is going on as a waste of my precious life,” he said.
He explained that he initially took a step back from public commentary due to frustration but had to returned to discussions after persistent requests from stakeholders and media organisations.
According to him, he believes that democracy depends heavily on participation, accountability and credible electoral processes.
Addressing electronic transmission of results, Igini referencing a 2021 report prior to the enactment of the 2022 Electoral Act, said internal technical assessments indicated Nigeria had sufficient telecommunications infrastructure to support electronic transmission nationwide.
“In that report, it was clear that Nigeria was ready, in that INEC and NCC, they had what they call a technical committee set up, in preparation for e-transmission, in that committee that was headed by one engineer, including the national commissioner, they were the co-chairmen.
“They came out with an interesting report, that with 2G and 3G, we had 93percent coverage across the federal republic of Nigeria, where we could transmit results,” he said.
He added that the commission even mapped polling units to specific mobile network operators and made logistical preparations, including SIM card configuration and data arrangements, to facilitate the process.
However, he noted that earlier provisions in the 2010 Electoral Act prohibited electronic processes, forcing the commission to adopt interim innovations such as biometric voter registers, card readers and later digital result-viewing platforms to improve transparency.
Ngini warned that introducing legal provisions allowing alternative procedures where there is allegedly no network could reintroduce vulnerabilities that past reforms sought to eliminate.
“I partly agree with him, and partly disagree with him completely, for the following reasons. The disagree is that we all have this common knowledge, that discretionary powers(given to presiding officers) are susceptible to abuse.
“And as I speak, I speak as someone who had field experience, who collected with my colleagues, carried out elections across the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” he said.
He cited previous reliance on incident forms during accreditation when card readers malfunctioned, which in some cases had compromised election credibility but he said reforms such as biometric voter registers, card readers and electronic result portals were introduced to address those weaknesses.
He insisted that electronic transmission should not be abandoned because modern election devices can function both online and offline.
“In any case, the BIVAS is configured to both operate online and offline, you must upload it, when there is no network, within the immediate vicinity, and when you get to the next stage, it’s going to hit the IREV.
“The whole idea of the IREV is to underscore that once you put all the dark alleys from one level, local government, and all point of relations, those are dark alleys where changes normally take place, that once you transmit the results from the polling unit, if the result presented at one level, at all levels, is inconsistent with what is on the IREV, the IREV shall prevail.
“Because the IREV result is the result, and now that Nigerians has seen that at the polling unit, we’ve also seen it all over the world, so nobody can change it,” he said arguing that claims about lack of network should not justify abandoning electronic transmission.
He cautioned that allowing manual fallback where network is disputed could trigger disputes in future elections.
“Well, if this proviso is retained, then there is going to be chaos in 2027, because there will be no network… Nigeria cannot be in a polling unit with a presiding officer where they can open their phone, see network, and the presiding officer now says there is no network,” he said.
He further linked the renewed controversy partly to judicial interpretations, saying decisions of the Supreme Court of Nigeria and evolving legislative amendments have contributed to uncertainty around the legal status of technological innovations in elections.
He urgedd lawmakers to consider the long-term implications of electoral law amendments, warning that Nigeria’s democratic stability would depend on cooperation among electoral bodies.
“Our democracy, whether it’s going to have a hopeful future, will depend on the role of the judiciary, the trinity of the electoral management body, the judiciary, and key actors. The rule of law is very important. without the rule of law, society is nothing but an aggregation of men and women of the most vicious, who want to have their way,” he noted.