Itodo: Why Politicians Fear Real-time Transmission Of Election Results

The Executive Director of YIAGA Africa, Mr. Samson Itodo, has said the reluctance of Nigeria’s political class to adopt compulsory electronic transmission of election results was largely driven by fear of the transparency and accountability it brings to the electoral process.

Itodo made the remarks amid growing controversy following the Senate’s passage of the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill 2026, and rejected provisions that would make real-time electronic transmission of results mandatory.

On February 4, 2026, the Senate passed the amendment bill but voted against compulsory electronic transmission, a decision that has attracted widespread criticism from opposition parties, civil society organisations and concerned citizens.

According to Itodo, while speakingon Channels Television’s current affairs programme, ‘Sunday Politic’, electronic transmission of results significantly reduces manipulation, particularly at the collation stage, which he described as the weakest point in Nigeria’s results management process.

“What the political class seems to be scared of is the power that electronic transmission of results has,” he said.

“It enhances the transparency of the process and also ensures it has a deterrent effect, because the lowest and perhaps the weakest link of our entire results management process is at the collation level. That is where results are manipulated.”

He acknowledged that no system is completely immune to vulnerabilities but argued that effective safeguards can limit manipulation.

“There is no system in the world that is insulated from penetration. But what you do about those vulnerabilities is institute mechanisms that limit the extent of vulnerability so you prevent any form of attack,” Itodo said.

Explaining how electronic transmission works, the YIAGA Africa boss said the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) introduced the process to improve transparency and public access to results.

“What INEC did by introducing electronic transmission, whether through IReV or other platforms, is that after voting at the polling unit, results are entered on the result sheets and uploaded to a portal defined by INEC,” he explained.

“That way, it enhances accessibility so that by the time the results get to the collation centre, everyone has already seen them.”

He warned that abandoning electronic transmission increases the risk of result alteration at collation centres, where figures can be changed without immediate public scrutiny.

Itodo also cited several elections where electronic transmission helped to strengthen electoral integrity.

“If the critics say electronic transmission doesn’t work, it worked in Nasarawa, it worked in Zamfara, it worked in Abia. There are lots of elections where this particular mode deepened the integrity of the process,” he added.

The Senate’s decision has continued to fuel debate nationwide, with critics arguing that rejecting real-time electronic transmission of election results undermines electoral transparency and public confidence ahead of future elections.

However, the Senate has announced plans to hold an emergency sitting on Tuesday, February 10, 2025, amid growing public controversy over its recent amendments to the Electoral Act.