Igini Warns Lawmakers: Without mandatory e-transmission, 2027 re-election may slip away

A former Resident Electoral Commissioner with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mike Igini, has cautioned that a large number of federal lawmakers risk losing their seats in 2027 if the Electoral Act is amended without guaranteeing compulsory, real-time electronic transmission of results from polling units.

Igini sounded the warning in a statement titled “Proviso to Real-Time E-Transmission of Polling Unit Results: Why a Majority of Legislators May Not Return in 2027”, which was made available to journalists on Sunday.

He urged members of the National Assembly to draw lessons from previous electoral cycles, arguing that legal loopholes left unaddressed in the past ultimately worked against many sitting legislators.

“As the National Assembly convenes to reconcile the divergent versions of the Electoral Act Amendment Bill, particularly with regard to the unequivocal demand by the Nigerian populace for mandatory electronic transmission of election results directly from polling units to the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV), I urge Honourable and Distinguished Senators to heed the salutary lessons from the misfortunes that befell their predecessors,” Igini stated.

According to him, earlier Assemblies failed to correct known weaknesses in the electoral framework, often for political convenience, only to become victims of those same flaws.

“Those earlier Assemblies, for reasons of convenience and party loyalty, refused to address well-documented election rigging vulnerabilities in our electoral laws, like the very proviso now introduced by the Senate, to qualify direct electronic transmission.

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“Such lacunae were exploited to subvert polling-unit outcomes during their tenure by those who denied them re-election party tickets, rendering them victims of the very defects they declined to remedy or introduce to the Act,” he said.

Igini noted that lawmakers who lost the backing of powerful party figures were frequently unable to defend their mandates, even when they enjoyed genuine grassroots support.

“A majority of incumbent legislators who were denied re-nomination tickets by party governors and principal officers of their parties, even when they secured alternative platforms thereafter, were ultimately defeated through manipulation of polling unit results during collation processes, despite robust grassroots support they legitimately obtained in their constituencies and won at polling units,” he added.

He warned that the current legislature could face the same fate if ambiguities around electronic transmission persist.

“The 10th Assembly now stands perilously close to replicating this lamentable pattern. Those Members not favoured or not in the good books of their respective State Governors or party leaders will foreseeably be denied tickets and, given the prospects of an unprotected or unsecured electronic transmission of polling unit results, will find it exceedingly difficult to translate constituency endorsement, however strong they may be, into electoral victory,” Igini said.

Explaining why Nigerians insist on real-time transmission, Igini said it is the most effective safeguard against post-election manipulation.

“Nigerians have insistently demanded real-time electronic transmission from polling units to IReV, precisely to forestall post-polling alterations at ward or local government collation centres. Publicly viewable results serve as deterrence and would render such tampering manifest and actionable,” he stated.

He pointed to the consistently high turnover in the National Assembly as proof of deep-rooted systemic problems.

“The facts of alarming rate of legislators’ turnover are incontrovertible. Their attrition rate has averaged well above 60 to 70 per cent, with fewer than four in ten Senators and barely one-third of Representatives typically securing re-election,” he said.

Such instability, Igini argued, weakens governance and institutional capacity.

“This chronic instability breeds institutional amnesia, dissipates scarce public resources on perpetual induction and retraining, weakens legislative oversight, and erodes continuity in law-making and executive accountability,” he noted.

Addressing concerns about network availability, Igini dismissed them as unfounded, citing assessments conducted before he left office.

“Before we left office in 2022, INEC and NCC had carried out a survey of network coverage of both 2G and 3G and came with a report of over 97 per cent coverage across Nigeria. Network concerns are therefore largely excuses and completely specious,” he said, referring to the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).

He further warned that inserting qualifying clauses into the law could open the door to deliberate sabotage.

“The Senate’s proviso invites mischief, affording opportunities for collusion between influential actors, collation officials, and telecommunication providers to engineer deliberate network failures on election day,” Igini stated.

Calling for decisive action, he urged lawmakers to strip the bill of any provisions that weaken electronic safeguards.

“Real-time electronic transmission is, therefore, not merely desirable; it is essential for the sustenance of our democracy and for deserving legislature members’ political survival,” he added.

The controversy over electronic transmission remains a focal point of ongoing debates on amendments to the Electoral Act ahead of the 2027 general elections, following a recent reconsideration of the disputed clause during an emergency plenary session. Despite the review, the Senate stopped short of making electronic transmission mandatory and also declined to retain a provision for real-time upload of results.

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