Electoral Act: Okonkwo Asks Senate To Remove Manual Clause In Results Transmission

Amid the backlash trailing the Electoral Act Amendment Bill, a member of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Kenneth Okonkwo, has asked the Senate to remove the manual clause in the transmission of results.

Okonkwo made the call on Tuesday during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today.

“Once they put that law that you must transmit from the polling unit, I am okay. So any polling officer would not leave the polling unit,” the actor-turned politician said.

“The House of Representatives should go further to say that where it is not possible to transmit from the polling unit, that election should be cancelled.”

When asked if it would be fair to cancel an entire process where electronic transmission of results doesn’t happen, Okonkwo said the reason for accreditation and voting is for the result.

READ ALSO: Senate Reverses Stance To Allow E-Transmission Of Election Results, Retains Manual Backup

He attributed Nigeria’s lack of development to elections marred by irregularities.

“The reason you are doing accreditation, voting is for the result. If you do all these things to get a fraudulent result, what have you gained? You have actually emboldened the criminals. The only problem we have in this country is fraudulent elections.

“On the day we have free and fair elections in Nigeria, 20 years after that, we would become a superpower nation. America is sustained today because power lies with the people.”

Noting that democracy is not a government of the ADC or the All Progressives Congress (APC), Okonkwo called on all Nigerians to fight for the sustenance of democracy in the country.

The Electoral Act amendment bill passed the third reading at the Senate last week. It rejected proposals for the real-time electronic transmission of election results as contained in Clause 60 (3).

But it retained the portion in the 2022 Act that equips the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to decide the mode of transmission of results.

Opposition leaders criticised the move, claiming it would undermine Nigeria’s democracy. They also protested at the National Assembly.

But on Tuesday, the Senate reversed itself and approved the electronic transmission (without the real-time phrase) of results. It stipulated that where internet connectivity fails, the Form EC8A will remain the primary instrument for result collation.

During the emergency plenary, the lawmakers constituted a committee to harmonise their version of the bill with the one passed by the House of Representatives amid the backlash triggered by some amendments to the Act.