TDThe Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has criticized the Senate’s recent amendment on the real‑time electronic transmission of election results, calling the change “clever by half.”
This was contained in a press statement signed by Comrade Ini Ememobong, National Publicity Secretary of PDP.
The party said an addendum permitting manual transmission where technology “fails” is effectively a backdoor to the Senate’s earlier rejection of electronic transmission.
Background
The Senate recently reconsidered its stance on mandating real‑time electronic transmission of results.
It added language that would allow manual transmission in cases where technology is deemed to have failed.
The House of Representatives had earlier passed a version of the bill that the PDP supports.
That version includes provisions for electronic transmission as a safeguard against result manipulation.
PDP’s Main Arguments
Redundancy of manual transmission:
The PDP noted that manual transmission is already provided for in the Electoral Act.
It argued the new caveat undermines the purpose of introducing electronic transmission as a second‑layer authentication to prevent tampering en route to collation centres.
Reliability of BVAS:
The statement questions the logic of claiming the BVAS technology—used successfully for accreditation—would suddenly be unreliable for transmitting results from the same exercise.
Political motives:
The PDP accuses some Senators, singling out Senate President Godswill Akpabio, of opposing electronic transmission for narrow political reasons.
The accusation suggested that lingering concerns from past elections are influencing the Senate’s position.
Call for harmonisation:
The party urges the Conference Committee to adopt the House of Representatives’ version of the bill as the harmonised text to ensure credible elections in 2027.
Warnings and Appeal
The PDP frames the issue as one of democratic sustainability rather than short‑term political advantage.
It warned that those who block electronic transmission will be recorded unfavorably in history if democracy falters.
The party also calls on Nigerians to remain steadfast in demanding real‑time electronic transmission and rejects what it describes as excuses for delaying the reform.
“We therefore urge members of the Conference Committee to adopt the version of the bill passed by the House of Representatives as the harmonised position, if indeed they are committed to delivering credible elections in 2027,” the statement reads.
If the Conference Committee accepts the Senate’s addendum, the legal framework for election result transmission could retain a discretionary manual fallback.
Critics say it would weaken safeguards against result alteration.
Conversely, adopting the House version would enshrine electronic transmission as a primary anti‑fraud mechanism ahead of the 2027 elections.
