Abuja, Nigeria – Samson Itodo, Executive Director of Yiaga Africa, has disclosed that the primary reason Nigeria’s political class opposes mandatory electronic transmission of election results is the immense power such a system holds in promoting transparency and preventing manipulation at the collation stage.
Speaking during an interview on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics programme, Itodo addressed the recent decision by the Senate to reject a proposed amendment to Clause 60, Subsection 3 of the Electoral Act Amendment Bill. The rejected provision would have made real-time electronic transmission of polling unit results compulsory, requiring presiding officers to upload results directly to the INEC Result Viewing (iReV) portal immediately after collation and signing of Form EC8A.
According to Itodo, the resistance is not fundamentally rooted in technical vulnerabilities—since no system is completely immune to attack—but in the political implications of removing opportunities for interference.
“What the political class seem to be scared of is the power that electronic transmission of results has,” Itodo stated. “What does it do? It enhances the transparency of the process. It also ensures it has a deterrent effect.”
He explained that the weakest and most vulnerable point in Nigeria’s current results management process is the collation centre, where results are frequently altered, inflated, or suppressed after leaving the polling unit.
“What INEC did by introducing electronic transmission, whether it’s iReV, is the fact that after voting at the polling unit, you collate the results, enter the results sheets, and then upload it on a portal defined by INEC,” he said. “That way it enhances accessibility, so that when it goes to the collation centre, everyone already sees the result.”
Itodo emphasized that once results are publicly visible on the iReV portal in real time, any attempt to manipulate them at higher levels becomes far more difficult and easily detectable. This transparency, he argued, acts as a powerful deterrent against fraud and builds greater public confidence in the electoral outcome.
Addressing concerns about potential hacking or system vulnerabilities, Itodo acknowledged that no technology is entirely foolproof but stressed the importance of mitigation measures rather than outright rejection.
“What you do about those vulnerabilities is that you institute mechanisms that limit the extent of vulnerability, so you prevent any form of attack,” he explained. “Because there is no system in the world that is insulated from penetration. So let’s get that clear.”
He pointed out that several countries with advanced democracies successfully use electronic transmission or similar digital safeguards, and Nigeria can adopt best practices—including robust cybersecurity protocols, redundancy systems, and independent audits—to protect the process.
The Yiaga Africa leader described the Senate’s decision to retain discretionary language (“in a manner as prescribed by the commission”) instead of mandating real-time transmission as a missed opportunity to strengthen electoral integrity.
Itodo’s analysis aligns with long-standing advocacy by civil society organisations, election observers, legal experts, and many ordinary Nigerians who have called for compulsory electronic transmission since the introduction of the iReV portal ahead of the 2023 general elections. The portal allowed public viewing of scanned result sheets but suffered from inconsistent compliance, server downtimes, and allegations of selective uploading—issues that mandatory real-time transmission could largely resolve.
The rejection of the amendment has drawn widespread criticism, with many arguing it preserves the status quo and perpetuates opportunities for manipulation at the collation stage—one of the most frequently cited sources of post-election disputes and litigation in Nigeria.
As preparations continue for future elections, including off-cycle governorship polls and the 2027 general elections, the debate over electronic transmission is expected to intensify. Samson Itodo’s comments on Sunday Politics have reignited public discourse on whether Nigeria’s political leadership is genuinely committed to electoral reform or more interested in preserving existing levers of control.
Yiaga Africa and other pro-democracy groups have vowed to sustain advocacy for stronger legal safeguards, urging citizens to demand transparency and accountability in the electoral process.
