July 15, 2021

Human rights lawyer and a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Femi Falana, on Wednesday said Nigeria is in trouble if the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is barred from transmitting election results electronically.

The National Assembly leadership weeks back blocked the electronic transmission of election results in Nigeria, an amendment that President Muhammadu Buhari also refused to sign into law after arguing that it would disrupt the conduct of the 2019 elections.

But speaking during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today, Falana cited Section 52 of the Electoral Act Amendment Bill and the prohibition of the electronic transmission of election results, calling on Nigerians to demand that the proper thing be done.

“By virtue of Section 52 of the Electoral Act (2015) as amended, INEC is given unchallenged powers to device any process to guarantee that everybody is able to vote and so INEC is empowered to transmit results electronically,” he said.

“When you now put it in the law that INEC shall not transmit election results electronically, we are in trouble. I’m sure that Nigerians are going to continue to demand that the proper thing is done in order to ensure that the process we are putting in place will guarantee fair and free election.”

He also asked citizens to call on the representatives in the National Assembly not to sabotage the electoral process.