Samson Itodo, Executive Director of civil‑society group YIAGA Africa, has accused the Senate of betraying Nigerians after lawmakers rejected a proposal to mandate real‑time electronic transmission of election results.
Itodo made the remarks on Wednesday during an interview on Arise Television and OBSERVED BY OBSERVERS TIMES , Itodo reacting to the Senate’s decision to turn down a proposed amendment to Clause 60(3) of the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill that would have required electronic transmission of results.
Three hours after the Senate’s announcement, Senate President Godswill Akpabio said the upper chamber did not, in fact, reject electronic transmission during its consideration of the bill. Itodo dismissed that clarification as misleading.
“The Senate has betrayed the trust of Nigerians and made rubbish of all the gains we have made. This is a dangerous retreat from some of the lofty reforms that were introduced by the 2022 Electoral Act,” he said.
Itodo argued the National Assembly moved to amend the law after a 2023 Supreme Court ruling found that electronic collation and transmission were not provided for under existing law, meaning the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) could not introduce them by guideline alone. He said the amendment before the lawmakers—on which he served as a member of the technical committee—was intended to put electronic transmission, including the iREV system, on a clear legal footing.
He also warned that other changes introduced by the Senate could undermine preparations for the 2027 elections by compressing logistical timelines. “If this is the outcome of a thorough job, then I think that the Senate owes Nigerians a lot of apologies,” Itodo said.
