Experience of the last general elections of 2023 in Nigeria points to the is the extent Nigerians believe in the potential of electronic transmission of election results to improve the country’s electoral system.
The idea of e-transmission of election results is predicted on its ability to eliminate possible electoral fraud associated with manual collation of votes.
E-transmission Of election results reportedly involves the use of an electronic device such as the BVAS, to transmit election results directly from the polling booths to the server of the electoral commission. In the 2023 general elections, iRev, a result viewing portal was reportedly created by INEC. This was reportedly designed to enable Nigerians view the results of the elections as they were transmitted.
This would have indeed been novel, except that it was not used after all, according to the electoral commission, which blamed it on “glitches.”
At the 2023 Presidential Elections Petition Tribunal, PEPT, hopes that the court would stamp the idea of e-transmission dashed when the PEPT reportedly ruled that “There is no provision for the electronic transmission of election results in the Electoral Act 2022.” The tribunal further said that the idea of e-transmission within the context of of the 2023 general elections was “at best optional.”
Given the above reported ruling of the PEPT, It has apparently dawned on Nigerians that the germane issue of e-transmission of results lacks any legal basis in the amended Electoral Act 2022,
Ahead of the 2027 general elections, Nigeria Newspoint calls on the National Assembly to take another look at the Electoral Act 2022 as Amended, with a view to incorporating the issue of e-transmission permanently in the electoral act.
It is hoped that this will go a long way in not only improving Nigeria’s electoral system by checkmating incidents of fraud associated with manual collation, but also restoring the’ confidence of Nigerian voters in the electoral process.