Politics
Electoral Act: Rumbles In Senate Over Card Reader, Results’ Electronic Transmission
The plan to save the nation’s electoral process from malpractices by making card reader and electronic transmission of results compulsory during polls, is currently generating controversy in the Senate.
Investigation by our correspondent revealed that the Senator Kabiru Gaya-led Committee on the Independent National Electoral Commission, based on input from Nigerians during the public hearing on the ongoing amendments to the Electoral Act, has included the compulsory electronic transfer of votes and card reader, in its report.
The report of the Electoral Act 2010 Amendments Bill is billed for submission any moment from this week, according to a source, who is a member of the INEC panel.
There are, however, strong indications that some forces from outside the chambers have started lobbying their political allies in the Senate to oppose the provision for electronic voting.
A Senator from the South-East geopolitical zone, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the issue, confided in our correspondent that there were actually moves to scuttle the use of electronic transmission of results in the 2023 general elections.
He said, “We all agreed at the commencement of the amendment exercise that we should include electronic voting in the bill but since INEC has told us its limitation regarding that for now, we settled for mandatory use of card readers and electronic transfer of results from the polling units to INEC central server.
“However, the feelers we are getting from some of our colleagues indicate that some people are warming up to reject the inclusion of the proposal in the bill by opposing it during third reading at plenary.
“I wonder for how long some people want to be manipulating election process in Nigeria to their advantage. The peoples’ vote must count. We won’t continue to allow some people to be writing results and imposing them on INEC.”
Another Senator from the South-West geopolitical zone, who also craved anonymity, said he was aware of surreptitious moves by some of his colleagues to oppose the issue of electronic voting and card reader.
He said, “ It is our wish that the card reader and electronic transfer of results be made compulsory by including it in the Electoral Act that we have just amended but some of our people are already opposing that novel idea.
“We have also made up our minds to mobilise our colleagues who have the interest of the country at heart to oppose any evil and wicked plans to rubbish the 2023 elections. The peoples’ vote must count.”
However, some senators who spoke with our correspondent on record said any plan to frustrate the use of electronic voting in the 2023 polls would fail.
They expressed delight that the INEC committee had included the mandatory use of electronic voting as part of their recommendations in their final report which would be presented to the Senate at plenary very soon.
They insisted that passing the amendments to the Electoral Act without specific provision for mandatory use of electronic voting would not make the National Assembly to achieve the intention of the current amendments.
Senator Matthew Urhoghide said he would vote for electronic voting anytime the report of the INEC committee is presented at plenary.
He said, “I’m not pessimistic, I am very optimistic that the electronic voting will be passed with the Electoral Act amendments. I will vote for it.
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“The sanctity of the ballot paper must be upheld. Anybody who subverts it is worse than armed robber.
“What we are saying is that once the vote is cast, it must be transmitted immediately to the server.
“We are insisting that the transmission of results must be done electronically to the server right from the polling unit”.
Also Senator Gershom Bassey said the electronic voting remained the best aspect of the electoral reforms.
He said, “We have not seen the report of the INEC committee yet so it is not good to speculate.
“We will have to wait and see but if we go by what happened during the eighth Assembly when the document was passed and sent to the executive for assent, the issues of electronic transfer of results and compulsory use of card reader was captured.
“It is my expectations that if we want free and fair elections in this country, it is a very crucial aspect of the electoral reforms.
“It is important that when people vote, as we saw in Edo State, as soon as you vote, the results at the polling unit are sent to the central server.
“It is that aggregation without any interference, from collation centres, and all sorts of funny things. It is possible to aggregate the results from the polling unit and come up with the results for the constituency”
Similarly, Senator Frank Ibezim said, “Electronic voting is the way to go because it is what the electorate want.”
Senators Abba Moro and Chukwuka Utazi also held similar view.
They insisted that the use of electronic voting remained the best way to achieve a free, fair and credible elections in the country.
Politics
Reps Constitution Review Committee Holds Zonal Hearing For Rivers, C’River, Akwa Ibom In Calabar
A press statement issued by the Chief Press Secretary to the Cross River State Governor, Mr Linus Obogo, disclosed that the Calabar Centre — designated as Centre B — will host representatives and stakeholders from Cross River, Rivers, and Akwa Ibom States.
The public hearing is scheduled to take place on Saturday, July 19, 2025, at 10:00 a.m. at the Transcorp (Metropolitan) Hotel, Calabar.
The initiative, according to the statement, is designed to promote inclusive dialogue and capture the aspirations of Nigerians from all regions.
It aims to serve as a platform for citizens to contribute meaningfully to the ongoing national efforts to refine and strengthen the country’s legal and institutional frameworks.
“Citizens, civil society groups, professional bodies, traditional rulers, and other interest blocs are invited to participate in this landmark engagement aimed at advancing a more just, equitable, and responsive Nigerian Constitution,” the statement read.
The hearing forms part of the broader review process of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), and is seen as a strategic move toward fostering national unity and addressing structural legal issues within the federation.
For the first time since 2022, when then-presidential aspirant Alhaji Bola Tinubu declared he made former President Buhari Nigeria’s President in 2015, Mr Mustapha dismissed the claims, stressing that the merger only contributed about three million votes in addition to Buhari’s existing 12 million votes in the North.
He insisted that former President Buhari’s integrity, national stature, and disciplined messaging were central to the breakthrough, not the three million votes from the merging parties, which he described as insignificant.
Speaking on the role of the merging parties, particularly President Tinubu, the leader of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Mr Mustapha, who was the keynote speaker at the launch of the book ‘According to the President: Lessons from a Presidential Spokesman’s Experience’ authored by Mallam Garba Shehu, described the impact of the votes from other merging parties as very insignificant.
In attendance were former Head of State Yakubu Gowon, chair of the event; immediate past Vice President Yemi Osinbajo; SGF George Akume, who represented President Tinubu; PDP’s 2023 presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar; former Chief of Staff to Buhari Ibrahim Gambari; elder statesman Babagana Kingibe; former governors Nasir El-Rufai (Kaduna), Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti), Chris Ngige (Anambra), Rauf Aregbesola (Osun), Raji Babatunde Fashola (Lagos); former ministers Solomon Dalung and Sunday Dare; former Army Chief Tukur Buratai, and Bayo Onanuga, President Tinubu’s spokesman, among others.
According to Mr Mustapha, “I do not intend to stir up any controversy. The merger in 2013 was midwifed to create a Buhari presidency. Let us look at the statistics. In the 2003 election, it was the Obasanjo-Buhari presidential contest where Buhari recorded 12.7 million votes. In 2007, it came to 6.6 million, and it went back to 12.2 million in 2011.
“When we were conceptualising the merger, what would give us a headstart? Obviously, it was at the back of our consciousness that the merger with the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), though it had only one state, the ACN had six states, ANPP three states, and when you sum up the total votes that we had as the presidency in 2015, the aggregate of the total votes was 15.4 million.
“So, basically, what we brought to the table after the merger outside the Buhari 12.5 million votes was three million. Before turning to that presidency, it is important to recognise the former President’s role in reshaping Nigeria’s political trajectory.
“In early 2013, as the leader of the CPC, Buhari formally requested and supported the creation of a CPC merger committee, part of a broader coalition-building process that brought together the ACN, ANPP, APGA faction, and elements of the ruling party through the breakaway ‘new PDP’ group. His endorsement and participation, along with other party leaders such as President Tinubu and Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, lent credibility and direction to the merger, helping to unify disparate party factions under the banner of the APC. That coalition-building paved the way for the first democratic defeat of an incumbent ruling party in Nigeria’s history.
“President Buhari’s integrity, national stature, and disciplined messaging were central to that breakthrough. No account of President Buhari’s tenure would be complete without acknowledging the extended periods he spent on medical leave. These moments, while politically delicate, were also telling of his leadership philosophy and personality,” he said.
In his remarks, President Tinubu promised to build on the legacies of former President Buhari, stressing that “nation-building is a relay. The efforts of one administration lay the foundation for the next.
“In this regard, I acknowledge the efforts of my predecessor, President Buhari, and assure all Nigerians that the reform-oriented path he initiated will be consolidated and strengthened under this administration. Our Renewed Hope Agenda is inspired by the desire to build a resilient, just, and inclusive Nigeria—a nation that delivers dividends of democracy to all its citizens”.
Speaking during an appearance on live television on Wednesday, Mr Omokri alleged that Mr Obi’s statements were misleading and damaging to the country’s economic prospects.
Mr Omokri said some investors currently operating in Nigeria were considering exiting the market due to Mr Obi’s remarks.
“That is not true. He doesn’t rile me up. I rile him up. The reason why I came here is because I’m a patriot. Peter Obi lied. You know, foreign direct investors are watching your programme, who are making investment decisions not to come to Nigeria. There are foreign investors in Nigeria that are making investment decisions to leave Nigeria because of the lie he told.
“One of the lies he told is that President Tinubu has borrowed more than the administrations of Yar’Adua, Jonathan, Buhari. That is a blatant lie”, Mr Omokri said.
To buttress his claims, Mr Omokri referenced figures from the Debt Management Office (DMO), maintaining that President Tinubu had actually reduced Nigeria’s external debt burden since assuming office.
“I have here with me data from the Debt Management Office, and Nigerians who are watching can go to DMO.com and search Debt Management Office, Nigeria State of Indebtedness 2015.
“As of 2015, Nigeria was owing a total of $63 billion. When Buhari was leaving office, Nigeria was owing $113 billion. Today, from the DMO, our debt has gone from $113 billion to $97 billion, meaning that Tinubu has reduced our debt by over $14 billion.
“We should be appreciating this man. Yet Peter Obi came here and lied to the Nigerian people. He took the debts and translated them into naira to make it look like the debts have increased”, he said.
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