By Haruna Salami
Former Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, on Monday joined a mass protest at the National Assembly Complex in Abuja against the Senate’s decision to remove the words “real-time” from provisions on electronic transmission of election results in the Electoral Act Amendment Bill.
The protest, tagged Occupy the National Assembly, was organised by members of the Obidient Movement in collaboration with pro-democracy groups. Organisers accused federal lawmakers of taking actions capable of undermining electoral transparency ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The action followed the Senate’s passage last week of the Electoral Act 2022 (Repeal and Reenactment) Amendment Bill, 2026. A key area of controversy in the amended legislation is the deletion of the phrase “real-time” from sections dealing with electronic transmission of results, a move critics say could weaken safeguards against electoral malpractice.
Despite repeated assurances from the Senate that electronic transmission of results was not jettisoned, protesters maintained that the absence of the phrase “real-time electronic transmission” creates opportunities for manipulation and post-election interference.
Chanting solidarity songs and carrying placards with messages such as “Our votes must count,” “No to electoral robbery,” and “Protect democracy now,” the demonstrators marched from the Federal Secretariat toward the National Assembly.
However, security operatives drawn from the Nigeria Police Force, the Nigerian Army, and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps mounted a heavy presence at the complex and blocked access to the main entrance, forcing the protesters to hold their demonstration outside the gates.
Addressing journalists at the protest venue, Obi lamented what he described as the steady erosion of Nigeria’s democratic gains, emphasising that credible elections are critical to national unity and development.
“We must dismantle this criminality and show that Nigeria can be a beacon of hope in Africa,” he said.
Obi’s presence further energised the protesters, many of whom see him as a symbol of the youth-driven political movement that gained momentum during the 2023 general elections.
The National Coordinator of the Obidient Movement Worldwide, Dr Yunusa Tanko, said the protests would continue until the National Assembly explicitly restores real-time electronic transmission of results in the amended law.
He said, “If there is no electronic transmission of results, there will be no election. Our elections must be credible.”
Tanko explained that past elections were frequently compromised by manual interference during result collation, a problem electronic transmission was intended to address following reforms introduced after the 2011 and 2015 elections.
Nigeria’s drive for electoral reform intensified after the widely condemned 2007 general elections. The introduction of card readers in 2015 and the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) in 2022 were widely applauded as major steps toward transparency, although challenges in implementation remained.
Electronic transmission of results also featured prominently in campaigns by civil society organisations during debates leading to the passage of the 2022 Electoral Act, with advocates arguing that it would reduce human interference and restore public confidence in the electoral process.
Also speaking at the protest, activist Randy Peters accused the political class of betraying democratic ideals and vowed that demonstrators would continue to return to the National Assembly until their demands are met.
“We will be back here tomorrow until the Senate does the right thing. The June 12 struggle was about free and fair elections,” he said.
Referring to the June 12, 1993 election, widely regarded as Nigeria’s freest and fairest, Peters questioned why elected leaders would oppose reforms that guarantee credible electoral outcomes.
“In 2027, our votes must count. That is the most important thing. We will meet them here again tomorrow,” he added.
