The National Assembly passed the electronic and manual transmission of election results in the amended Electoral Act to stop voter disenfranchisement and reduce apathy ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, gave the explanation on Sunday, adding that Nigeria has limited internet services and unstable power supply which he said made it impractical to rely solely on real-time electronic transmission across the country.
Abbas spoke while receiving the Ambassador of Spain to Nigeria, Ambassador Felix Costales, during a courtesy visit to his office at the National Assembly complex in Abuja.
A statement by his spokesperson Musa Krishi, said the Speaker hosted the envoy alongside the Chairman, House Committee on Appropriations, Abubakar Bichi; Chairman, House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Wole Oke; and Chairman, Nigeria-China Parliamentary Friendship Group, Jafaru Yakubu.
Krishi said the Spanish envoy also said Spain operates a system that permits manual transmission of election results.
Based on his engagement with the leadership of the Independent National Electoral Commission, the Speaker said 2027 general elections would be more credible and inclusive.
Abbas said ”sometimes, people scream far beyond the exact level of the issue. A lot of people think that we need to embrace electronic transmission in real-time in Nigeria, but within the very little period that you’ve been in Nigeria, you should be able to speak on the quality of our internet network.
“You should know that even in advanced cities like Abuja, you are not guaranteed stable internet services all the time.”
“Based on the NCC report, they said Nigeria is still underserved by almost 40 per cent, which means 40 per cent of territories at large in Nigeria are not covered by the internet. Now, tell me, for those who are saying we should go ahead and do that, already, if you look at the number of our registered voters in this country, it is alarming.
“It is sad to say that even with the manual arrangement we are using, we are only able to capture about 12-15 per cent of registered voters who, after every four years, come to vote. That’s voter apathy. Very few people go out to vote.
“Now, if we are to introduce only the electronic system, it will further reduce the number because 40 per cent of the country will probably not be able to vote as they don’t have adequate internet services.
“It means what we should be expecting is not only disenfranchising the voters—denying some people the right to vote—we will also record, perhaps, the lowest number of voters in the next elections.
“These are all avoidable. That is why we said, in our wisdom, the Electoral Act should be hybrid—a combination of both the manual and electronic systems. Where it is feasible to use the electronic transmission, use the electronic transmission; where it is not possible, use the manual, because there is no way one form, particularly the electronic, can be used entirely in all parts of the country for the elections.”
