By Sam Nwaoko, February 14, 2026
THE Nigerian Senate under the leadership of Senator Godswill Akpabio will always not fail to disappoint. It is our 10th Senate and trust me, the 10th Senate is simply living up to expectation. Sincere thoughts on the controversy over transmission of election results and other things that would make elections easier in Nigeria would always lead to the place of ‘we can do it but we will not do it.’ As we all could see, majority of the senators of the All Progressives Congress as well as the leadership of the Nigerian Senate needed all that hullabaloo by angry Nigerians, who came to their workspace, to be able to decide on what to do. And this is something they should have readily done with ease and dispense with the amendment of the Electoral Act 2022.
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar recently alleged that the National Assembly was not favourably disposed to amending the electoral act indeed. Atiku, a chieftain of the opposition African Democratic Congress (ADC) accused the Nigerian Senate predominated by members of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) of only fiddling with the electoral law and foot-dragging on the amendment. Then, the socials transformed and the awareness around (especially) the Senate and its activities with the law became more pronounced.
There was a calling out of Akpabio’s Senate by both groups and individuals who are either for or against the 10th Senate and the arguments heightened.
But, when the need for a law to be amended arose and this need was agreed upon, what then was the reason why the Senate needed to be pushed to start? Why did we have to descend into so much drama to be able to drive a process meant to smoothen one of our ways of life? This must be as a result of some things other than the words of the law that the people sought its amendment. This must have something to do with the confidence of some people in some places; places where they want to remain at by all means possible to continue their ways of life.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) headed by Professor Mahmoud Yakubu spoke beautifully about electronic footprints for our elections and Nigerians were delighted and expectant. Although many reined in their expectations, there was that hope that with technology the fears for our elections would be dispelled? He spoke about a peculiar electronic means accreditation of voters and also electronic transmission of results to a result viewing portal, they did that with all the confidence their sincerity could muster. The explanations were clear and their intentions noble. We all applauded the INEC and looked forward to the expansion of what they had successfully tested earlier in places like Anambra, Nasarawa and Ekiti states. Nigerians were convinced and in 2023 decided that the process could be embraced. And they went all out. INEC’s Festus Okoye also reiterated Professor Yakubu’s and INEC’s assurances went to England and addressed the matter and placed his integrity on the line.
Nigerians, especially the younger generation took INEC’s promises seriously. The commission’s avowed recourse to technology resonated with them and they could relate with it.
So, they trusted and came out to vote because they believed in what INEC had laid out and how they planned to implement it.
But the political parties had other ideas. They must exert their power wherever they are popular, and for that they showed power at various points and at various levels. INEC will always argue that it is not guilty of electoral fraud as a commission, that it is politicians who poison the pool and spoil the broth. And they did as usual in 2023. INEC used technology for all of its elections in 2023 except the presidential election. Since mode of collation and announcement of results is the discretion of INEC, efforts to challenge this in court failed, and there was anger all over the land. To make amends, the electoral act was brought up for amendment so as to make it a law to electronically announce election results. Its proponents were sure that such amendments would consolidate the gains made by INEC since 2018, further enhance the credibility of our elections and make the process smoother. But the party in majority everywhere in the country says no, that sticking to the process that led to chaos in 2023 was preferred, and that the law should not be altered.
Regardless of the fact that Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) under Umar Dambatta, in 2018, together with telecommunications companies operating in Nigeria, said they could help with this, the APC and a lot of its supporters are saying not to electronic transmission of election results. You could be wondering why the APC which applauded this before now is now using its institutions to work against it. They are even calling Nigerians demanding for electoral reforms names. When APC was not in power, it championed this cause but has turned around to oppose it now through the relevant government organs it controls, especially the National Assembly. Why?
Is it that they do not agree that there would be lesser room for alteration, manipulation or delay, and that these would be greatly reduced if electronic transmission of results made legally compulsory? They are now conjuring up excuses of hackers and sundry electronic crimes unmindful of sundry safeguards, electronic footprints and timeline traces. The Senate President said that they did not reject electronic transmission of results nor did they reject technology. We know, but he also knows that they did not strengthen the law either. But why is APC and its senators the ones vehement about the negatives of the matter? Why are they presenting like part of the problems meant to be solved with the amendment of the 2022 Electoral Act?
APC is in control of 29 out of the 36 states of the country. That is not just dominance, it is total control. The APC is also in control of the National Assembly and the executive arm of the Nigerian government. Simply put, APC is in charge of the three arms of government. So, APC is not just in government, APC is in power. What then is it still afraid of? By technically shunning an easier, faster, less-messy, less controversial, less cumbersome and more convincing approach to announcing this dominance through the ballot, APC might be saying it has power without control. It is a sign that the party has crowd but has not got the people.
This indeed is a test of that dominance of the APC in real electronic terms, and I feel it should have been embraced by the party without hesitation. Why pass through technicalities to sustain your ‘dominance’ rather than give it proper validation it deserves? In my opinion, the events surrounding the amendment of the Electoral Act 2022, which also can translate to mean the alteration of our electoral life as a country, is a test of the confidence of the APC. From what the ears can hear, and the eyes can see, Nigerians do not want a repeat of the electoral mess of 2023 and how to avoid that is technology. Why should there not be a means through which the results can be stored electronically if they cannot be transmitted instantly?
In the whole scenario, the people who seem not to understand what they are doing are those who do not see anything wrong in continuous fraudulent elections. This category of Nigerians think that political parties are the victims of electoral fraud whereas we all are the real victims — miserable ones at that. Nigeria as a country is suffering in nearly all the facets of its national life and it is obvious that the rot stems mainly from our leadership recruitment process. If we are able to get that process right, Nigeria is already on the way to greatness, because by then the institutions would work and confidently throw out any leader whose recruitment to lead was fraught with irregularities and outright fraud.
When the frog misses his way to the waters he will switch course to the swamps. The APC which is in total control of the two chambers of the National Assembly, and has the majority of governors in its fold is not confident to say bring on any form of election collation. It knows that electronic footprints for our elections and instant, transparent transmission of results will expose an entirely false foundation and braggadocio.
The current matter, as far as I can see, is a test of that confidence exuded by the APC because of those political leaders trooping into the party. It is APC’s confidence versus people’s confidence.
@Nigerian Tribune