…As Reps Southern caucus insist on electronic transmission of election result
A Coalition of Civil Society Organisations, (CSOs), under the aegis of ‘Alliance of CSOs for Expression of Electoral and Democratic Space’, yesterday stormed the National Assembly, protesting the exclusion of some provisions, such as electronic voting, financial autonomy for the Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC), and protection of people with disabilities, in the new Electoral Act.
The aggrieved protesters were armed with placards, with inscriptions such as: “SaveOurElections #NigeriansDeserveFreeAndFairElection” and so on.
The concerns raised by the CSOs followed the sudden emergence of a strange Section 50(2) in the new draft of the Bill, which completely outlaws transmission of votes by electronic means.
The Bill is expected to be passed this week by both chambers of the National Assembly.
This is coming as some of the House members from the 17 Southern States have joined many Nigerians by rejecting the moves to outlaw the electronic transmission of the election result in the Electoral Act.
The Victor Nwokolo-led caucus also faulted moves to confer exclusive jurisdiction in pre-election matters on the Federal High Court.
The lawmakers maintained that electronic transmission of results directly from the polling unit remains a firm step towards the elimination of result collation-related malpractices, including alteration of figures, mutilation of documents, snatching, and diversion of ballot materials on transit to collation centers among others.
The lawmakers warned that the attempt to tamper with the Electoral Act to remove electronic transmission of results is therefore a malicious and unpatriotic act aimed at emasculating the electoral system, undermine democracy and destabilise the country. This, they contended cannot be condoned or justified under any guise whatsoever.
