Democracy At Risk: Atiku Reacts To Senate Blocking Live Transmission Of Election Results

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has strongly criticized the Nigerian Senate’s reported rejection of real-time electronic transmission of election results, describing the move as a threat to electoral transparency and public accountability.....KINDLY READ THE FULL STORY HERE▶

Atiku said the decision suggests a reluctance to allow elections to be openly scrutinized, raising serious doubts about the ruling government’s commitment to conducting free, fair, and credible elections in 2027.

In a statement issued on Wednesday by his media office, the African Democratic Congress (ADC) chieftain called the Senate’s action “ill-advised” and a major setback for electoral reform, emphasizing that it undermines transparency, credibility, and public trust in Nigeria’s democratic process.

“At a time when democracies worldwide are adopting technology to strengthen their electoral systems, the Nigerian Senate has chosen to cling to opacity, maintain loopholes, and preserve a system historically prone to manipulation, tampering, and post-election disputes,” Atiku said.

He added that real-time electronic transmission of results is not a partisan demand, but a democratic safeguard that minimizes human interference, prevents result manipulation, and ensures that voters’ choices at polling units are accurately reflected in final outcomes.

“To reject this measure and rely instead on the 2022 provision for electronic transmission signals an unwillingness to submit elections to public scrutiny,” Atiku stated. “It raises troubling questions about the commitment of the ruling establishment to free, fair, and credible elections in 2027.”

The former presidential candidate further warned that every reform aimed at improving transparency is being resisted, while ambiguities that benefit incumbents are preserved. He urged Nigerians, civil society groups, the media, and the international community to remain vigilant and demand an electoral system that meets modern democratic standards.

“Nigeria deserves elections that are transparent, verifiable, and beyond manipulation. Anything less is an injustice to the electorate and a betrayal of democracy,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Senate clarified that it did not reject electronic transmission of results during the consideration of the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill. Senate President Godswill Akpabio made the statement after the upper chamber passed the bill following a four-and-a-half-hour marathon plenary session.

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