Protesters on Monday returned to the National Assembly, calling on lawmakers to make real-time electronic transmission of election results compulsory in the Electoral Act Amendment Bill, 2026.
The demonstrators, drawn from civil society groups including Situation Room Nigeria and ActionAid Nigeria, insisted that manual collation of results should be completely removed from the electoral process to prevent manipulation at collation centres.
They argued that full transparency can only be guaranteed if results are transmitted electronically in real time from polling units, without any fallback to manual procedures.
The protest followed a five-day pause in demonstrations after assurances given to the groups during last Tuesday’s Senate sitting.
Security operatives barricaded the entrances to the National Assembly complex, forcing the protesters to stage the demonstration outside the main gates.
The protesters maintained that there was no justification for retaining manual backups, noting that funds allocated for elections already cover the technological infrastructure required for electronic transmission of results.
(Vanguard).
