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Senate Under Fire: Bugaje Claims Deliberate Plot To Undermine E-Transmission Of Results
Islamic scholar and political activist Dr. Usman Bugaje has accused efforts to block mandatory electronic transmission of election results of being aimed at paving the way for electoral manipulation and granting undue advantage to certain political actors.....KINDLY READ THE FULL STORY HERE▶
Bugaje made the claim on Tuesday during an appearance on Arise Television’s Morning Show, where he criticised arguments against real-time electronic transmission of results.
According to him, assertions that Nigeria lacks the capacity to transmit election results electronically are mere excuses designed to weaken the electoral process.
“These are all alibis to prepare for rigging. It’s very clear. You have POS terminals in the remotest villages, telephones, WhatsApp—people are communicating everywhere,” Bugaje said.
He argued that it is not the role of lawmakers to assess the operational capacity of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), noting that INEC has already confirmed its readiness.
“In any case, it is for INEC to say if it lacks the capacity to deliver. Legislators cannot make that determination. INEC itself stated its position during public hearings,” he added.
Bugaje questioned why the Senate would speculate about INEC’s ability to conduct real-time transmission when experts have confirmed that network coverage across the country is adequate.
“So what is the business of the Senate in speculating about INEC’s capacity when INEC is very clear about its own position?” he asked.
“Experts in the past few days have affirmed that the network coverage is more than sufficient for INEC to deliver.”
He further explained that even in areas with weak connectivity, results could still be uploaded once network access becomes available.
“Even in remote areas, once you move into a coverage zone, the messages will reach the portal. It is not impossible,” he said.
Bugaje also noted that several countries with less developed internet infrastructure have successfully implemented electronic transmission of election results.
“Many countries in the world, which are far less developed in terms of internet coverage, have done exactly this. So these excuses hold no water,” he said.
“These are alibis designed to prepare for rigging. In the 21st century, why would you block it? We have sufficient time to build INEC’s capacity; this can be done within a month.”
Allegations of Electoral Manipulation
Bugaje maintained that opposition to real-time transmission is suspicious and intended to weaken the electoral system.
“The whole idea of giving excuses is suspect. Clearly, the intention is to undermine the electoral system in a way that benefits certain people and allows them to rig our elections, as they have done before,” he said.
He referenced past electoral controversies, questioning why certain incidents were never fully investigated.
“Even last year, remember what happened. Systems were switched off, all sorts of irregularities appeared, and to date, nobody has adequately explained what happened.
If it were a glitch, why did it affect only the Presidential results? In a serious country, this should have been thoroughly investigated, and those found culpable prosecuted. Yet, many of these perpetrators are still at large,” he added.
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