2027: SDP demands for mandatory electronic transmission of results

….Urges citizens, CSOs, democrats to put up strong resistance

By Chris Ochayi

The Social Democratic Party, SDP, has demanded that the the new Electoral Act (Repeal and Enactment) 2026 must come up with an unambiguous legislative mandate and legal command on electronic transmission of results in real-time by polling unit presiding officers to avoid any possible legal manipulation of future elections.

The SDP in a statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Araba Rufus Aiyenigba, on Friday while reaching to Senate’s rejection of mandatory electronic transmission of results, warned in strong terms, that the self-serving cabals within the senate leadership can no longer hold the country’s democracy to ransom.

The party condemned what it described deliberate attempts and actions by the lawmakers involved in the on-going reforms on the Electoral Act, to go against the popular will of Nigerians to have a definitive legislative mandate that will allow for real-time transmission of election results.

The SDP, therefore , called on the citizenry, civil society groups and all democrats to “Step up strongly, their resistance against the few holders of our mandates, who are hell-bent on promoting and serving their interest against the true interest of Nigeria.”

“The statement read, “The Social Democratic Party (SDP) is deeply worried by the unimaginable and unpatriotic resistance of the leadership of the 10th Senate to positive change in our democratic journey, going by its delibrate attempts and actions in the on-going reforms on the Electoral Act, to go against the popular will of Nigerians to have a definitive legislative mandate that will allow for real-time transmission of election results.

“Across the country, citizens have unequivocally spoken and expressed their desires for democratic consolidation to have us move beyond the challenges of credible elections that we had in the 2023 general elections, through the extensive nationwide public hearings that the Senate itself conducted in 2025 for the Electoral Act (Repeal and Enactment) Bill 2026.

“To have critical reforms that will enhance and ensure transparency in our elections and build public trust, the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV) are fundamentally critical, particularly in having human errors reduced and to prevent manipulation of results during manual transportation by anti-democracy agents.

“It is no longer deniable that the majority of our current senators who are true patriots, Nigerian citizens and the nation’s electoral umpire itself, want us to move forward in our quest for integrity of our elections, particularly going by the positive disposition of the new leadership of the INEC to incorporating integrity into our electoral processes anchored on transparency and credible elections.

“The Party therefore warns in strong terms, that the self-serving cabals within the senate leadership can no longer hold our democracy to ransom, and demands in that the new Electoral Act (Repeal and Enactment) 2026 must as a matter of true national interest, come up with an unambiguous legislative mandate and legal command on electronic transmission of results in real-time by polling unit presiding officers to avoid any possible legal manipulation of our future elections.

“The INEC has demonstrated that it has the infrastructure, technical capacity, will, and patriotic disposition to effectively transmit election results in real-time if the anti-democratic hawks would allow the Commission to do its duties without any encumbrances.

“It is mindful that eternal vigilance is the price for freedom, that the SDP calls on the citizenry, civil society groups and all democrats to step up strongly, their resistance against the few holders of our mandates, who are hell-bent on promoting and serving their interest against the true interest of Nigeria.

“The nation can not afford to have the 2027 general elections go the way of lack of credibility as we had in 2023. All hands must, therefore, be on deck to save our democracy and Nigeria from taking retrograde steps in this new age.”