E-transmission Of Election Results Will Curb Rigging, Ezekwesili Says

Former Education minister and founder of the School of Politics, Policy and Governance, Dr Obiageli Ezekwesili, has said the proper use of electronic transmission will stop the altering of election results.

The former Vice President of the World Bank accused some members of the Senate of attempting to undermine electoral transparency by opposing moves to make electronic transmission of election results mandatory in law.

Ezekwesili, in a statement, said democracy belongs to the citizens and not to political office holders.

She alleged that certain lawmakers were plotting to frustrate reforms that would guarantee real-time electronic transmission of results from polling units.

Ezekwesili said the process of e-transmission was straightforward and had already been successfully implemented in previous off-cycle elections.

With e-transmission, once voting concludes at a polling unit, results are entered into the prescribed Form EC8A, signed by the presiding officer and party agents, and subsequently uploaded to the Independent National Electoral Commission’s Result Viewing Portal for public access.

She maintained that making electronic transmission mandatory would significantly reduce the manipulation of results and ultimately curb electoral malpractice.

The former minister argued that failure to enshrine e-transmission in law would leave room for discretionary actions that could erode public trust in the electoral process.

She warned that if votes do not count transparently, corruption and poor governance would persist.

Citing previous elections in Anambra, Ekiti and Osun states, she noted that the e-transmission system recorded a high success rate and improved public confidence in the process.

Ezekwesili, therefore, called on lawmakers to support clear legal provisions that would make electronic transmission of results compulsory, urging Nigerians to demand greater transparency and accountability in the country’s electoral system.

She reiterated that credible elections remain the foundation of a stable democracy and insisted that reforms aimed at strengthening the integrity of the ballot must not be compromised.

End.