Former Minister of Education, Oby Ezekwesili, has warned Nigerian senators that they are “playing with fire” by retaining ambiguities in the amended Electoral Act, insisting that Nigerians are demanding a clear legal mandate for real-time electronic transmission of election results from polling units.
Speaking on ARISE News on Friday, Ezekwesili criticised the Senate’s passage of the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill following contentious debates over provisions governing electronic transmission of results and the discretionary powers left with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
She faulted the decision to retain Section 60(5) of the 2022 Electoral Act, describing it as a loophole that eroded public trust in INEC during the 2023 general elections.
“The fundamental issue is that the Senate retained the infamous Section 60, subsection 5, which provided the loophole that made Nigerians lose confidence in INEC,” she said.
Ezekwesili recalled assurances given by INEC officials ahead of the 2023 polls, particularly to young voters, that results would be uploaded in real time to the commission’s results viewing portal.
“The then INEC chairman kept assuring young people that results would be transmitted online to the IREV portal,” she said. “When that failed to happen, it became the basis for doubting what occurred at polling units across the country.”
She noted that the absence of a clear legal mandate for electronic uploads ultimately shaped judicial rulings that upheld INEC’s discretion not to transmit results electronically.
“That failure became the foundation for court pronouncements that the law did not compel INEC to upload results from every polling unit,” Ezekwesili said.
According to her, Nigerians had embraced the amendment process as an opportunity to close legal loopholes and restore confidence in the electoral system.
“Every ambiguity, every loophole, every discretionary escape route on an issue that lies at the heart of transparency, credibility, and legitimacy in a democracy must be eliminated,” she said.
Ezekwesili said public outrage over the Senate’s decision was justified, warning that further erosion of trust could deepen voter apathy.
“When citizens say their experience of the 2023 election damaged their confidence in democracy, lawmakers should listen,” she said, noting that less than 35 per cent of registered voters participated in the last presidential election.
“People are checking out of democracy, and that should worry those in power,” she added.
She accused the political class of worsening the situation by ignoring public sentiment.
“That is why I said they are playing with fire,” she said. “It sometimes appears as if the political class wakes up each day asking how to further alienate Nigerians.”
Rejecting claims that citizens’ demands amount to incitement, Ezekwesili stressed that sovereignty resides with the people.
“Nigerian democracy belongs to the citizens, not politicians. The office of the citizen is the highest office in the land,” she said.
She urged the Senate to urgently reverse course by suspending its recess and amending the bill to explicitly mandate real-time electronic transmission of results.
“I recommend that the Senate immediately reconvene and adopt a clear provision,” she said, proposing the clause: “The presiding officer shall electronically transmit results from each polling unit to the INEC Results Viewing Portal (IREV) in real time.”
“The senators know how to walk away from this,” she added. “Transparency is better. Fire is dangerous.”
Background
The controversy stems from the Senate’s recent passage of the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill 2026 as part of preparations for the 2027 general elections.
While civil society groups and opposition parties pushed for a clear legal requirement mandating real-time electronic transmission of results, the Senate retained language from the 2022 Act allowing results to be transmitted “in a manner as prescribed by the Commission.”
Critics argue that the provision leaves excessive discretion in the hands of INEC and undermines electoral transparency.
However, Senate leadership, including Senate President Godswill Akpabio, has insisted that the chamber did not reject electronic transmission, maintaining that existing provisions already allow for the use of technology, despite widespread confusion and conflicting interpretations.
