Okonkwo Knocks Senate Over Electoral Act Amendment, Alleges Threat to Democracy

A chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Kenneth Okonkwo, has criticised the Senate over the amendment of the Electoral Act, accusing lawmakers of undermining Nigeria’s democracy.

In a statement titled, “Nigerians are duped by the Senate,” shared on his X handle on Tuesday, Okonkwo faulted the amendment to Section 60 of the Electoral Act, which permits electronic transmission of election results but allows manual collation where electronic transmission is deemed impossible.

He specifically took issue with a proposal by Senator Mohammed Monguno, which provides that a manually generated Form EC8A may be used for collation of results if electronic transmission cannot be carried out.

According to Okonkwo, the proviso weakens the intent of electronic transmission by making it non-mandatory.

He argued that the amendment effectively legitimises technical glitches during elections, recalling that a similar justification was given by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) during the 2023 presidential election when electronic transmission reportedly failed.

“Senator Monguno has just proposed a worse amendment to the controversial clause that rejected mandatory electronic transmission of results,” Okonkwo wrote.

“He proposed a proviso that manually generated Form EC8A should be used only for collation of results where electronic transmission is impossible. This is going back to square one where it is not mandatory to electronically transmit election results. Indeed, this is approving technical glitches in our elections because this means that when INEC claims that it cannot transmit as it did in the 2023 presidential election, it has the power to use the manual results for collation.”

Okonkwo maintained that Nigerians are demanding a framework where electronic transmission is mandatory, adding that any failure to transmit results electronically from polling units should render such elections void and necessitate a fresh poll.

“What Nigerians want is that electronic transmission is mandatory, and anytime it is impossible to transmit election results electronically from the polling unit, the election should be void and cancelled, and another election scheduled for another day,” he stated.

He cited the handling of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) under Section 47(2)(3) of the Electoral Act, 2022, which provides for cancellation and rescheduling of elections where BVAS fails for accreditation.

“It is important to note that this is how the issue of the BVAS was treated. The provision requires that where the BVAS is not working for accreditation for any reason, the election is cancelled and rescheduled,” he said.

Okonkwo warned that unless Nigerians insist on mandatory electronic transmission without recourse to manual results for collation, the integrity of elections could be compromised.

“This Senate is hell-bent on destroying our democracy and Nigerians must resist this,” he added.

InfoStride News reports that the Senate had earlier on Tuesday amended Section 60 of the Electoral Act during an emergency plenary session.

Senate President Godswill Akpabio explained that under the amendment, presiding officers at polling units are required to electronically transmit election results to INEC’s Results Viewing Portal (IREV) after Form EC8A has been signed and stamped.

“The presiding officer shall electronically transmit the results from each polling unit to the IREV portal after Form EC8A has been signed and stamped by the presiding officer, and/or countersigned by the candidates or polling agents where available at the polling units,” Akpabio said.