Former Vice President and 2023 presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar has strongly criticized the Nigerian Senate’s handling of the Electoral Act amendment, describing the combination of manual and electronic transmission of election results as a recipe for “more confusion and chaos” rather than the real-time transparency Nigerians demanded.
Speaking to journalists on Tuesday after a visit to former military President Ibrahim Babangida in Minna, Niger State accompanied by Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde Atiku insisted that the hybrid system falls far short of public expectations.
“Nigerians were expecting real-time electronic transfer to the various levels of the elections. But what we got is a mixture of electronic and manual transmission, which is going to cause more confusion or chaos,” Atiku said, according to Daily Trust.
He emphasized that the issue transcends personal political ambitions, framing it as a matter of national interest.
“At this point, this is not about me contesting elections. It is about Nigerians who want electronic transmission of election results,” he added.
Atiku advocated for a “single-tier electoral transmission system” that is fully real-time and electronic, describing it as the preferred option for opposition politicians.
“There is a need for all the opposition political parties to come together to pursue this issue,” he urged. “We shouldn’t allow it to rest where they wanted it to rest today. Absolutely not. I don’t support that.”
The Senate’s initial passage of the Electoral Act (Repeal and Re-enactment) Bill, 2026, last week removed the mandatory real-time electronic transmission requirement, reverting to the 2022 Electoral Act provision that empowers the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to determine the mode of result transmission.
The decision triggered widespread outrage, protests at the National Assembly on Monday and Tuesday, and sharp condemnation from opposition figures, civil society groups, and citizens who viewed it as a setback for electoral integrity.
In response to the backlash, the Senate on Tuesday reversed its position on Clause 60(3), amending the framework to designate electronic transmission as the primary method—while allowing manual submission via Form EC8A in cases of technical or network failures.
Atiku’s remarks reflect ongoing opposition discontent with the conditional, non-mandatory nature of the electronic provision, which critics argue leaves room for manipulation through claims of technical glitches.
The former vice president’s call for united opposition action signals potential coordinated efforts by parties and stakeholders to push for stronger safeguards in the harmonized version of the bill as it moves toward presidential assent.
