Former Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, on Monday led supporters and civil society groups to the National Assembly, demanding the inclusion of real-time electronic transmission of election results in the ongoing amendment of the Electoral Act 2022.
Speaking at the protest ground, Obi faulted the Senate’s position on the electronic transmission of election results, urging lawmakers to allow the electoral process to proceed without restrictions.
Obi insisted that Nigerians would no longer tolerate technical glitches in future elections, stressing that results must be transmitted directly from polling units to the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV) to guarantee transparency.
Obi said, “Allow the election to go through the normal process. Whatever the outcome is, we will accept it. Why introduce confusion after the process?”
The protest, tagged ‘Occupy National Assembly’, saw Nigerian youths and pro-democracy activists converging at the entrance of the National Assembly to express opposition to the Senate’s rejection of e-transmission of election results.
The demonstration attracted a heavy security presence, with personnel drawn from the Nigeria Police Force, the Nigerian Army, and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, deployed to maintain order around the complex.
The protesters are demanding that the National Assembly reconsider its position on the e-transmission clause of the Electoral Act Amendment Bill, insisting that electronic transmission is vital to transparency, credibility, and public confidence in Nigeria’s electoral process.
As of the time of filing this report, the protest remained peaceful, with security operatives closely monitoring activities at the scene.
