Election results transmission: Senate begins emergency sitting

The Senate has commenced an emergency session to formally adopt the Votes and Proceedings of the February 4th sitting, during which the Electoral Bill was passed.

This followed the controversy that trailed the decision of the Red Chamber to exclude a provision mandating real time electronic transmission of results from polling units in the ongoing amendment of the Electoral Act.

Besides, the Conference Committee established to harmonise the Senate’s position with that of the House of Representatives cannot commence its work without the formal adoption of the Votes and Proceedings.

Before the start of the session at 12:30pm, a former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, and his first son, were at the National Assembly to protest against the Senate’s rejection of real-time transmission of election results.

Amaechi is the second chieftain of the coalition-led African Democratic Congress (ADC) to join the protest.

On Monday, Peter Obi, one of the ADC presidential aspirants, joined the protest, calling on the National Assembly to allow real-time transmission of results.

Speaking at the protest ground, on Tuesday, Amaechi said he asked his son who is a medical doctor to join so that he could attend to protesters in need of medical attention.

“There are those who say we, the politicians, want protest but our children are overseas. But here is my first son. He is a medical doctor; I brought him here and his job is that if there is injury, he should treat people.”

As Amaechi spoke, his son who wore a black native attire beamed with smiles. He said leaders ought to be at the forefront of major protests and should be willing to involve their families.

On the subject matter, the politician said his former party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), was opposed to electronic transmission of election results because it fears losing elections.

“I believe that the opposition parties should come out — PDP, ADC, everybody should be out — to protest against the attempt of one party.”

“If we come out, and they say the opposition has hijacked the protest, what is APC doing? Are they not hijacking? What are they afraid of?”

He added that opposition parties and civil society organisations would continue the protests, even if Senate President Godswill Akpabio and President Bola Tinubu looked the other way.

Amaechi compared the living condition with what obtained under the government he served as minister for eight years, saying, “It is worse now than it was then. In Buhari’s time, at least, even though we were planning to remove subsidy, we had better plans for citizens.”

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