Atiku slams Senate for rejecting obligatory e-transmission of outcomes

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has condemned the Nigerian Senate’s choice to reject the real-time digital transmission of election outcomes, describing it as a severe betrayal of democracy that undermines transparency, credibility and public belief within the nation’s electoral course of.

Atiku, a chieftain of the African Democratic Congress, made the remarks in an announcement issued by his Media Workplace on Wednesday, the place he described the Senate’s motion as a deliberate assault on electoral transparency.

The condemnation adopted the Senate’s rejection of a proposed modification to Clause 70(3) of the Electoral Modification Invoice, which sought to make the digital transmission of election outcomes obligatory.

Clarifying the Senate’s place, the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, had mentioned the higher chamber didn’t utterly reject digital transmission however opted to retain the present provision of the Electoral Act, which states that “the presiding officer shall switch the outcomes, together with the overall variety of accredited voters and the outcomes of the poll, in a way as prescribed by the Fee.”

Reacting, Atiku mentioned rejecting real-time digital transmission and counting on the 2022 provision amounted to a refusal to topic elections to full public scrutiny.

The assertion learn partially, “The previous Vice President of Nigeria and chieftain of the African Democratic Congress, Atiku Abubakar, condemns, within the strongest phrases, the choice of the Nigerian Senate to reject the real-time digital transmission of election outcomes.

“This ill-advised motion represents a grave setback for electoral reform and a calculated blow towards transparency, credibility and public belief in Nigeria’s democratic course of.

“At a time when democracies the world over are strengthening their electoral techniques by way of know-how, the Nigerian Senate has chosen to cling to opacity, defend loopholes and protect a system that has traditionally enabled manipulation, tampering and post-election disputes.

“Actual-time digital transmission of outcomes is just not a partisan demand; it’s a democratic safeguard. It reduces human interference, limits end result manipulation and ensures that the need of the voter—expressed on the polling unit—is faithfully mirrored within the closing end result.

“To reject it and undertake the 2022 provision on so-called digital transmission of outcomes is to sign an unwillingness to submit elections to public scrutiny. This choice raises troubling questions in regards to the dedication of the ruling political institution to free, truthful and credible elections in 2027.”

He emphasised that Nigerians are entitled to elections which might be clear, credible and free from manipulation.

The assertion additional learn, “Nigerians can’t ignore the sample: each reform that strengthens transparency is resisted, whereas each ambiguity that advantages incumbency is preserved.

“Atiku Abubakar has persistently maintained that democracy should evolve with time, know-how and the respectable expectations of the folks. Elections should be determined by voters, not by handbook delays, backroom alterations or procedural excuses.

“We name on Nigerians, civil society organisations, the media and the worldwide neighborhood to be aware of this regression and to proceed demanding an electoral system that displays trendy democratic requirements.

“Nigeria deserves elections which might be clear, verifiable and past manipulation. Something much less is an injustice to the citizens and a betrayal of democracy.”