Abuja | Headlinenews.news Desk.
Recent social media commentary questioning the National Assembly’s position on electronic transmission of election results has reignited debate over Nigeria’s electoral technology readiness.
Comparisons have been drawn between election result transmission and everyday digital activities such as POS payments, WAEC and JAMB platforms, SIM connectivity, and internet penetration.
However, electoral technology experts argue that such comparisons, while rhetorically appealing, are technically flawed.
Nigeria operates over 176,000 polling units spread across more than 8,800 wards—many located in remote, low-connectivity, and security-vulnerable terrains.
Simultaneous real-time transmission from all polling points requires a dedicated, encrypted, high-availability communications backbone, not public commercial internet infrastructure.
Unlike banking or examination platforms, election transmission is a national security operation requiring military-grade encryption, cyber-attack resilience, satellite redundancy, and near zero-downtime tolerance. Even minor system failures could trigger disputes, disenfranchisement claims, or constitutional crises.
Comparatively, advanced democracies still maintain redundancy safeguards.
The United States deploys electronic tabulation but retains paper ballots for audit and recount integrity. India—conducting the world’s largest elections—uses electronic voting machines backed by VVPAT paper trails, while the United Kingdom remains largely paper-based.
The global standard is therefore hybrid verification, not blind digitisation.
Legislative analysts defend the Senate’s decision to retain both electronic transmission and manual backup (Form EC8A) as a prudential safeguard rather than technological regression.
Beyond electoral administration, sovereign satellite communications capacity holds wider national-security implications.
Modern warfare systems—including military-grade drones, surveillance platforms, encrypted battlefield communications, and real-time intelligence coordination—depend heavily on robust Satcom architecture.
Nigeria’s existing Chinese-built satellite framework is approaching lifecycle expiration around 2026, creating urgency around bandwidth sovereignty and reliability. In response, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved the acquisition of two new communications satellites—seen as a strategic step toward entrenching modern technology across governance, defence, and electoral systems.
Technology policy stakeholders further advise that Nigeria prioritise partnerships with the most advanced global Satcom providers—particularly U.S. systems—widely regarded for operational resilience, encryption superiority, and battlefield reliability.
Until such sovereign communications capacity is fully operational, experts maintain that redundancy in electoral transmission remains not a weakness but an institutional safeguard—anchoring credibility, legal defensibility, and national confidence in Nigeria’s democratic process.
The National Patriots Movement Nigerians not to be misled by emotionally driven social media narratives on electronic transmission of election results.
Critical infrastructure, security, and bandwidth challenges make it imprudent to tie Nigeria’s electoral credibility solely to real-time technology.
We call on citizens to allow democratic institutions perform their constitutional responsibilities without distraction, recognising that the Senate’s retention of both electronic and manual safeguards reflects prudence, resilience, and a commitment to credible elections.
SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS MISLEADING AND INCITING GULLIBLE NIGERIANS.
POS is working electronically.
WAEC registrations are done electronically.
JAMB exams are written electronically.
Over 140 million Nigerians are connected to the internet.
Over 170 million Nigerians have SIM cards.
Yet Senate President “Mrs” Godswill Akpabio wants to convince Nigerians that election results cannot be transmitted electronically.
If terr0r!sts can upload propaganda in real time…
If band!ts can coordinate attacks using mobile phones…
But my vote cannot travel from a polling unit to a server?
The worst Senate president since 99
Dr. G. Fraser. MFR
Fraser Consulting Consortium.
The National Patriots.
