African Democratic Congress (ADC) accused the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) of undermining Nigeria’s democracy following the passage of the Electoral Act Amendment Bill by the National Assembly.
ADC spokesperson, Bolaji Abdullahi, warned that the ruling party’s actions could threaten democratic norms.
In a post on X, Abdullahi alleged that despite having almost all state governors under its control, APC remained reluctant to allow genuinely free and fair elections.
PDP: It’s Treacherous Betrayal of Nigerians
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) described the amendment of the electoral act by the National Assembly as a huge betrayal of Nigerians.
In a statement by National Publicity Secretary of PDP, Ini Ememobong, the party said the anti-democratic stance of the senate and the sudden somersault by House of Representatives on the amendment of the Electoral Act 2022, specifically on the mandatory electronic transmission of election results from the polling units, was an act of treachery against the Nigerian electorate.
Ememobong stated, ‘’This is a huge betrayal of the collective trust of Nigerians, who unambiguously expressed their overwhelming demand for the electronic transmission of results. This betrayal is most painful because it strikes the core of democracy, electoral sanctity.
‘’The shocking aspect of the whole drama is the brazen manner in which the legislators acted – they clearly showed disdain for the Nigerian people who voted them into office by openly challenging the supremacy of the voters.”
The statement said, ‘’The excuses advanced for inserting this obnoxious proviso are weak, illogical, and insulting to the intelligence of Nigerians. When lawmakers begin to dilute transparency mechanisms ahead of elections, only one conclusion is rational: there is a calculated attempt to create room for electoral manipulation.
‘’By this act, the National Assembly has violated the foundation of legislative representation, which is anchored on mirroring the wishes of the majority of their constituents. This is a painful betrayal, which the people will certainly repay in equal, if not heavier measures.’’
Ememobong added that the restriction of party primaries to Direct and Consensus methods constitut-ed an intrusion into the internal affairs of political parties.
He said, ‘’The Supreme Court has consistently affirmed that political parties possess autonomy in managing their internal processes. This provision is, therefore, ultra vires, and the attempt to constrict political parties is condemnable.
‘’Additionally, If the ruling party truly believes it enjoys the support it claims, it should welcome every mechanism that guarantees transparency. Their shameless support for this anomaly shows their fear of impending defeat in a free and fair election.”
PDP said, ‘’It is most shameful that a party that demanded electronic voting in 2015 is now unwilling and unprepared to have electronic transmission of results-this is a crying shame.
‘’Finally, we call on all Nigerians, the organised labour and civil society organisations to use all lawful means to express their displeasure on the anti-democratic actions of our National Assembly, in the hope that they will reconsider their position.
“This hard-won democracy must not be allowed to suffer decline in the hands of retrogressive politicians, masking as legislators.’’
PDP slammed Tinubu for hurriedly assenting to the new electoral act, despite the widespread criticisms from political parties and Nigerians.
Ememobong, said, ‘’The hurried grant of a presidential assent to the contentious bill as passed by both chambers of the National Assembly, despite the widespread opposition by Nigerians, is a confirmation of the fact that this was a well-choreographed drama by the APC.
‘’The party’s fear of the inevitable defeat from a free and fair election is palpable and they are unable to conceal it again. This is indeed a sad day for democracy. The Nigerian people have been dealt a bad card, which existentially threatens democracy.’’
Emomobong said the president had shown his inability to rise above partisanship in the art of governance.
Presiding Electoral Officers Open to Danger, Says Igini on Consequences of Bill
Former Resident Electoral Commissioner of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mike Igini, warned that the controversial Electoral Act amendment bill, assented to by Tinubu, could endanger the lives of presiding officers during the 2027 general election.
Igini raised the concern while speaking on “The Morning Show” on Arise Television.
According to him, the proposed changes can reintroduce a system similar to the former “Incident Form,” particularly in situations where election officials claim there is no network connectivity for electronic transmission of results.
He warned that such a scenario could create tension at polling units, especially where voters were able to confirm network availability on their mobile devices while a presiding officer insisted otherwise.
Igini said this could expose presiding officers, who are mostly members of the National Youth Service Corps, to potential danger from aggrieved voters.
He stated that the children of the political elite were not the ones deployed to polling units, but rather youth corps members who bore the brunt of election day responsibilities.
The former INEC commissioner also referenced past elections, alleging that there had been cases of collusion involving electoral officials, including incidents where serial numbers of election result sheets were compromised.
He questioned how authorities would determine authentic results in cases where duplicated serial numbers were uploaded to INEC’s Result Viewing Portal (iReV).
Igini stated, “The consequence, the danger of what has been passed is that we are bringing back what they call ‘incident form’. This is another version of incident form because there will be no network.
“The danger of what is going to happen in 2027 are as follows: the polling units presiding officers’ lives are going to be in danger.
“This is because when Nigerians are gathered and the results of polling units are being announced, everyone can look at their telephone and see network, but if the presiding officer says there is no network, you are going to put the life of that presiding officer in danger.
“Meanwhile, the children of all the political elites are not going to be at the polling unit. It’s the youth corps members that are going to be faced with this clear danger.”
Igini explained, “You know that in 2015 and 2019 there were evidences of collusion of some of our staff, when they gave the serial number of ECA in certain polling units for people to print, where you will now have the same serial number and the essential feature. And where they are transmitted to the iReV, which ones are you going to pick?”
Aborisade and Sunday Ehigiator
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