Enyinnaya Abaribe is the Senator representing Abia South Senatorial District at the National Assembly. In this interview, he speaks on the controversy over amendment of the Electoral Act, 2022, particularly as it concerns electronic transmission of election results and other issues, ANAYO EZUGWU reports
In clear language, did the Senate approve real-time electronic transmission of election results?
Yes and I will tell you how it happened. Let me set the stage first. In the last amendment to the Electoral Act in 2022, which was used for the 2023 elections, all the time that people went to court, all the way to the Supreme Court, especially for the presidential election, the court held that what the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) put as its guideline is transfer of results as approved by the INEC.
The apex court held that INEC guidelines were not law and that was why everyone prior to this time, and from the time that the electoral committee of the Senate and the House of Representatives started meeting from 2024 to now agreed that since there’s this problem with the law, it’s much better that we put it. So, that is clear and is concise. And the Senate Committee on Electoral Act and the House committee had a joint committee.
They met 27 times. From 2024, they met with INEC, they met with all stakeholders, they went with civil society organisations and they came back to us with their report. When the report was brought, what was there in the report, which was also agreed, was that there should be electronic transmission of results through the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV).
So, it was what was put in the document before us. Now, when that document was brought, which was the amendment of this 2022 Act, the Senate, in its wisdom, decided to set up another ad hoc committee led by Senator Niyi Adegbonmire (SAN) to review everything again. The Senate met again to move into an executive session. The reason for going into the executive session, which is where we now say let us talk to each other, is that we can fight, we can swear, and we don’t want Nigerians to see us fighting over a crossing of Ts or dotting an Is.
And we said fine, so let us approve everything. We approved all the ones we could approve, including electronic transmission of results. So, when we now came back, because it’s better that we got the whole sequence, for plenary session, it was simply for us to just go through what was already approved in the executive session. That’s why if you notice what happened, the Senate President would simply say section 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, we say approved because we wanted to go through it. And that was how we went through until we got to section 60.
Of course, so many people were walking about, talking to each other, because everybody assumed that the matter had been settled through all these processes. What we now felt was that we had already passed this. In the document that I have, what is inside there is electronic transmission through the IReV. So, we felt that this had already been done. But we were surprised that while we were still in the chamber, we started getting reports that it wasn’t what was passed.
The only way we can convince a skeptical public is to make sure that electronic transfer of election results is what is in the wording of the law, so that there will be no more confusion
So, everybody was perplexed and people started walking around to see what went on because this was like an assumption of something that had already gone. I went personally to the Senate President and he said ‘let me clarify.’ And he said don’t worry; what we passed was transmit, not transfer. So, we were surprised when the reports starting coming out and some of our colleagues said what was in the document is transfer.
I said no it can’t be. We didn’t want this confusion, so a few of us who were still around called each other and said, no, this is not what we passed, let us make sure that Nigerians know what was passed. I’m giving you this background because Nigerians don’t want any confusion arising again. We don’t want the courts taking decisions on elections.
If this approval that you say took place is as clear as you say it is, why did so many Nigerians and seasoned parliamentary reporters believed that it was rejected?
There was real confusion and that was why we also, at our press conference, said, usually, no matter how you do anything, when we come back to do the next legislative day in our process, there’s a Votes and Proceedings. When that Votes and Proceedings is brought, then the Senate President will ask if there’s any anomaly. You can now point it out and say, no, that wasn’t what we approved.
That’s why we said that the process is not over until we see the Votes and Proceedings. If what is there in the Votes and Proceedings is no longer electronic transmission but transfer, then we will say: No Mr. President.
You said that your integrity is at stake and you also insist that the difference between transfer and transmission is deliberate. In practical terms, how does this wording prevent results from being delayed, altered or selectively uploaded?
Obviously, every senator’s integrity is at stake because, as we said, we are there only on public trust. We are there because Nigerians said: Go and do this for us. I’ve also given you the reason and the reason is simple. The wording says transfer according to the Guidelines of INEC and we removed it because the courts will always say whatever is in the guidelines is not law.
Does the approved language of transmission compel INEC to transmit results from polling units in real time or does it still leave room for discretion?
That was why we said it should be transmit in real time, so that there’s no discretion given to INEC. That is exactly what we expect to see and the reason is very simple. I say this and I always want Nigerians to know; if you claim that you’re here on the mandate of the people, at any level in Nigeria, and you’re facing an election, for God’s sake, why do you want to have something that is murky. I came here on the mandate of people of Abia South. I will prefer real time transmission on the day of election. Let the people of Abia South say they don’t want me anymore.
Votes and Proceedings have not yet been adopted. Until that happens, can Nigerians honestly say that this reform is secure?
We can now tell Nigerians, wait until you see the Votes and Proceedings because the process of the Votes and Proceedings is also a process of acceptance or non-acceptance of what you write down. If you now bring Votes and Proceedings and what we see is transfer, we will say, no, that’s not what we approved.
Many Nigerians believe that the political elite, including members of the Senate, are afraid of real-time transmission of election results because it limits post-election maneuvering. How do you convince a skeptical public to the contrary?
Well, the only way we can convince a skeptical public is to make sure that electronic transfer of election results is what is in the wording of the law, so that there will be no more confusion and that no court will say it not sure of this or that. We want to make sure that nobody is given a chance to do interpretation to suit whatever he feels it is. Let the interpretation be clear, concise and open to everyone, even to nonlegal people.
If the final harmonised bill weakens real-time transmission, will you publicly oppose it?
Obviously and not just me, majority of senators will oppose it because we had this whole debate, while we were in the executive session, and I will tell you the reason why we don’t let people in. If people see us in executive session, sometimes you want to throw chairs, sometimes you want to throw punches.
That’s why we keep it away from the public. Let me put it this way. What we discussed is the Electoral Act, all aspects of the Act, not just the matter of electronic transmission of election results. And there are people who have one issue or the other with it and all that and they raised it. There are some other people who said why don’t you see what is clear. You know all those kind of things.
That’s what we want to keep away from the public because the whole world is looking at us. So, we want to have a measure of gravity; let me just put it that way. You can actually dissent, but ultimately, you can also see reason. But then, there’s something that we have noticed and you need to also take it into consideration.
What we note is that when the cameras are on us, people play to the gallery. So, we didn’t want anybody playing to the gallery when we’re discussing very serious issues like this. That’s why we said let’s go into an executive session to clarify and tidy it up. That’s why we’re a little bit taken aback over reports the electronic transmission of results was rejected.
When Nigerians vote in 2027, are you confident that their results will move instantly from the polling units to the IReV or will they once again disappear into the shadows?
That was what happened in 2023. My own results, I had a set of people who sat there and as a result were going into the IREV, but they were already taking it down. Before the collation officers actually had done their collation, we already had the results.
We knew where we were and we can’t go back. And the Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio, said it. He said Nigerians should know that we are not going backwards; that we are going forward. To go forward means that we will continue with it. So, I want to tell Nigerians, talk to your representatives in the House of Representatives and in the Senate.
They are representing you. If what you want is clear, concise law of electronic transmission, go ahead and call your senator, call your House of Representatives member and tell them that it is what you want. I got many calls and I have to tell them, don’t worry, this is where we are, this is what we have done, so watch out. So, we’re waiting for the Votes and Proceedings.
