Speaker Abbas explains inclusion of electronic, manual transmissions in Electoral Act 2026

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Abbas Tajudeen, has said that the National Assembly included both electronic and manual transmissions of results in the amended Electoral Act 2026 to avoid disenfranchising the Nigerian electorate and prevent voter apathy during the 2027 elections.

Abbas noted that due to inadequate internet penetration in the country, it will be counterproductive to allow only one electronic form of results transmission in the Electoral Act.

A statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Musa Abdullahi Krishi, said the speaker stated this when he hosted the Ambassador of Spain in Nigeria, Ambassador Felix Costales, during a courtesy call at the weekend in Abuja.

The speaker received the Spanish Ambassador in the company of the Chairman, Nigeria-China Parliamentary Friendship Group, Hon. Jafaru Yakubu.

This is even as the Spanish Ambassador revealed that his country also transmits election results manually.

The Speaker also assured that, based on his interaction with the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Joash Amupitan, the 2027 general elections “will be more transparent, accommodating, and inclusive.”

On the Electoral Act, the Speaker said, “…as you said, sometimes people scream far beyond the exact level of the issue. A lot of people think that we need to embrace electronic transmission real-time in Nigeria, but within the very little period that you’ve been in Nigeria, you should be able to speak on the quality of our internet network. You should know that even in advanced cities like Abuja, you are not guaranteed stable internet services all the time.

“Based on the NCC report, they said Nigeria is still underserved by almost 40 per cent, which means 40 per cent of territories at large in Nigeria are not covered by the internet. Now, tell me, for those who are saying we should go ahead and do that, already if you look at the number of our registered voters in this country, it is alarming.

“It is sad to say that even with the manual arrangement we are using, we are only able to capture about 12-15 per cent of registered voters who, after every four years, come to vote. That’s voter apathy. Very few people go out to vote.

“Now, if we are to introduce (only) the electronic system, it will further reduce the number because 40 per cent of the country will probably not be able to vote as they don’t have adequate internet services. It means what we should be expecting is not only disenfranchising the voters, denying some people the right to vote, we will also record, perhaps, the lowest number of voters in the next elections.

These are all avoidable. That is why we said, in our wisdom, the Electoral Act should be hybrid a combination of both the manual and electronic systems. Where it is feasible to use the electronic, use the electronic transmission; where it is not possible, use the manual, because there is no way one form, particularly the electronic, can be used entirely in all parts of the country for the elections,” he said.

Earlier, the Spanish Ambassador to Nigeria, Amb. Contales said his visit was to seek the understanding of the Nigerian parliament to deepen bilateral relations between the two countries, especially in the area of legislative diplomacy.

He said Spain would follow the 2027 elections closely, assuring that, “You can count on us whatever we can do to deepen Nigerian democracy.”

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