Politics
Orbih Harps On Electronic Transfer Of Election Results
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the South South has called on the National Assembly to retain electronic transmission of results in the Electoral Act
National Vice Chairman, South South of the party, Chief Dan Orbih, made the call on Wednesday in an interview with newsmen in Benin.
He was reacting to the purported removal of the electronic transfer of result provision from the proposed amendment Act currently being debated by the National Assembly.
“Nigerians should resist the removal of electronics transmission of election results during elections from the electoral Act because it is an invitation to unending electoral fraud.’’
Orbih noted that the introduction of electronic transmission of election results from the polling units to collation centres during elections was introduced by the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) to halt result manipulation during elections.
He noted that the initiative was well applauded by all concerned, as over the years Nigerians had been concerned about elections being free and fair in the country.
“It seems that at the moment some people have started saying oh, it will be difficult to manipulate the electoral process if the electronic transmission of results is allowed to remain in the electoral Act.
“Some of our leaders who know they have not done well to win back the confidence of Nigerians through the ballot box are now against electronic transmission of results.
“If you ask them, why they are opposed to it, they will not give you any reasonable answer other than this fear of eradicating possible manipulation of results during the elections.
“So for me, I think everything should be done to ensure that the clause is not removed from the electoral Act.
“Everything should be done to improve our electoral system so that people will have the confidence that their votes will count on election day.
“This to a large extent will help us eliminate the manipulation of results in elections in Nigeria.
“Doing that, we will be strengthening our democratic process and improving the electoral process itself,” he said.
The South South leader also said that leaving the jurisdiction of electoral matters solely on the Federal High Court would not be the best for the country.
He noted that most of the election cases were time bound, and must be disposed off within a very short period of time.
“So when you restrict this challenge to Federal High Courts alone, I’m afraid we may have lots of cases just waiting for the Federal High Courts to decide within the short period that they must be taken care of.
“With this scenario, it means even pre-election matters should go to the Federal High Courts. Honestly I don’t know how that will help our system,” Orbih said.
On the gale of defections from the party by some members, Orbih said that selfish interest on the part of those leaving the party was responsible.
According to him, there is no basis for them leaving the party except for selfish and personal gains.
“Those who are leaving us are those who have something to hide and are looking for where to hide.
“They are those who have personal interest not for the good of all, but personal interest to promote and protect.
“I want to borrow the now famous saying of Gov. Nyesom Wike, “that there is no justification for any person to leave hope for hopelessness”.
The South South leader further faulted the proposed 30 per cent for exploration in the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB).
According to him, I have never seen anything in practical terms to capture the wise saying that you cannot rob Peter to pay Paul than this PIB.
“It shows the long term marginalisation of the oil producing communities of the Niger Delta.
“It shows the obvious wickedness of our leaders to continue to deny them adequate compensation over challenges arising from the drilling of oil in these communities”.
He stressed that the agitation of the people of the region had always been over the damage from oil prospecting and processes done to their lands.
“Some of their lands are no longer fertile for agriculture; most of their fish farms can no longer survive the fallout of these processes.
“To know that they don’t have any special compensation for having the land where the wealth of the Nation’s comes from shows clearly that our leaders are insensitive to what these people are going through.
“And now you are saying, you want to take 30 per cent of our oil revenue for exploration in the desert land where nobody has come to tell us whether that oil had been struck, and even if there is whether they are economically viable.
“The ones that were discovered in the Niger Delta, did they take a percentage of our National income to develop them.
“Companies that discovered the viability of these wells paid their fees to be allowed to carry out their businesses.
“So, why are you now taking a percentage to go and develop fields in areas not yet confirmed to even have oil, and you are allocating just three per cent to the producing communities?
“It does not make any sense,” Orbih added
Prof. Amupitan gave the warning on Saturday, in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, during the South-South Zonal Readiness Assessment and Interactive Staff Engagement organised ahead of the 2027 general elections.
He said insecurity remained a potential challenge to the electoral process but stressed that the Commission would not allow threats against its personnel to undermine its constitutional responsibilities.
“Insecurity may pose a challenge, but our collective constitutional resolve is far stronger. Let me again send a clear message from Port Harcourt: anyone who attempts to threaten, intimidate, or harm our ad-hoc staff, NYSC members, or permanent personnel will be brought to justice under the full weight of the law,” he said.
The INEC Chairman, who was accompanied by National Commissioners, directors and technical aides, disclosed that the South-South engagement was the fifth in a series of zonal assessments, following similar exercises in the South-West, North-West, South-East and North-East.
He explained that his physical presence across the geopolitical zones reflected the Commission’s field-first approach, emphasising that electoral integrity must be established through effective operations at the grassroots.
According to him, the assessment would cover operational preparedness across the 123 Local Government Areas in the six South-South states.
On election security, Prof. Amupitan said INEC had moved away from reactive security arrangements traditionally activated around election day to a proactive, intelligence-driven framework known as the “ICCES Tentacle”.
He explained that the framework was designed to extend inter-agency security coordination from national and state headquarters to local government areas and Registration Area Centres, including remote communities.
He identified three critical pillars of the framework as mapping and mitigating security threats, protecting electoral personnel and infrastructure, and guaranteeing safe access to polling units.
The INEC boss said the security arrangement would provide comprehensive protection for electoral personnel, technological infrastructure, including Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) devices and server infrastructure, as well as voters.
He added that the framework was intended to ensure that every polling unit, irrespective of its geographical location or history of security challenges, remained safe and accessible for the exercise of democratic rights.
Prof. Amupitan disclosed that the South-South security architecture comprised approximately 60 major operational formations, headquarters and state commands operating under the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES).
The network, he said, brings together military, naval, air, police and other security and intelligence agencies across the six states.
“Together, this integrated multi-agency network represents the operational backbone that guarantees intelligence-led protection across every riverine creek, coastal axis, and land-based polling unit in the Niger Delta,” he stated.
Providing an overview of the region’s electoral significance, the INEC Chairman said the South-South had the fourth-largest voting bloc in the country, with 15,823,550 registered voters, representing 15.30 per cent of the national register.
Rivers State alone, he said, accounts for 3,736,434 registered voters spread across the 23 local government areas.
Alhaji Abubakar made the demand following revelations that some INEC registration officers allegedly abused their access to the voter registration system to introduce irregular records into the database.
In a statement issued by his Director of Strategic Communications, Mr Phrank Shaibu, the former vice-president described the development as a serious breach of the Commission’s internal safeguards and raised concerns about the integrity of the electoral process.
He urged INEC to identify the officials implicated in the alleged misconduct and explain what disciplinary or legal measures had been taken against them.
Alhaji Abubakar also called for an independent forensic audit of the preliminary voters’ register to establish the scale of the alleged manipulation, identify affected records and determine how the questionable entries were introduced into the system.
He further insisted that INEC preserve all relevant voter records, image files, system access logs and electronic audit trails to prevent the destruction or alteration of evidence before an independent examination could be conducted.
The former vice-president also demanded that the Commission disclose the identities of companies contracted to produce sensitive election materials ahead of the 2027 polls, arguing that transparency was essential to building public confidence in the electoral process.
INEC’s Director of Information and Communication Technology, Dr Lawrence Bayode, had earlier disclosed during a television interview that some registration officers across the country allegedly used their official login credentials to introduce irregularities into the voters’ database.
Dr Bayode explained that the Commission’s Automated Biometric Identification System helped identify questionable records and establish how some irregularities entered the system.
He, however, clarified that not all suspicious photographs were AI-generated, as some resulted from poor registration procedures.
The development followed public concerns over suspected AI-generated photographs, alleged duplicate entries and other inconsistencies discovered in the preliminary voters’ register published online on October 26, 2026.
INEC has maintained that the published document is a preliminary register and that it is reviewing questionable records ahead of the certification of the final Register of Voters.
The controversy has intensified calls for greater transparency and accountability in the management of the voters’ register as preparations gather momentum for the 2027 general elections.
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