A member of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Kenneth Okonkwo, has urged the Senate to expunge provisions allowing manual transmission of election results from the ongoing amendment of the Electoral Act, warning that such clauses could undermine credible polls.

Okonkwo made the call on Tuesday during an appearance on Politics Today on Channels Television, amid sustained criticism of the Electoral Act Amendment Bill currently before the National Assembly.

According to the actor-turned-politician, mandating electronic transmission of results directly from polling units would curb manipulation and ensure transparency. “Once they put that law that you must transmit from the polling unit, I am okay. So any polling officer would not leave the polling unit,” he said.

He argued that the House of Representatives should go further by stipulating strict consequences where electronic transmission fails. “The House of Representatives should go further to say that where it is not possible to transmit from the polling unit, that election should be cancelled,” Okonkwo added.

Responding to concerns about the fairness of cancelling elections due to failed electronic transmission, Okonkwo insisted that the essence of accreditation and voting is the integrity of results. “The reason you are doing accreditation, voting is for the result. If you do all these things to get a fraudulent result, what have you gained?” he asked.

Okonkwo attributed Nigeria’s development challenges to elections riddled with irregularities, describing fraudulent polls as the country’s biggest problem. “On the day we have free and fair elections in Nigeria, 20 years after that, we would become a superpower nation,” he said, adding that democratic stability in countries like the United States rests on the sovereignty of the people.

He stressed that democracy does not belong to any political party, urging Nigerians across party lines to defend democratic values.

The Senate last week passed the Electoral Act Amendment Bill, rejecting proposals for real-time electronic transmission of results but retaining provisions empowering the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to determine the mode of transmission. 

Following public backlash and protests by opposition figures, the Senate on Tuesday approved electronic transmission without the “real-time” specification, while allowing manual collation where internet connectivity fails.

Lawmakers have since constituted a committee to harmonise the Senate and House versions of the bill.

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