Lawmakers Fear Transparent Elections — Sowore Speaks on Electoral Act Amendment Bill
Omoyele Sowore, human rights activist and former presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), has stated that credible and transparent elections would dramatically reshape Nigeria’s political landscape.
Sowore spoke on Wednesday during an interview, commenting on the controversy surrounding amendments to the Electoral Act, particularly the provisions on the transmission and collation of election results.
The Senate, on Tuesday, approved electronic transmission of results but retained a clause allowing manual collation in areas with limited internet access, a decision that has drawn criticism nationwide.
According to Sowore, lawmakers are resistant to strengthening electoral safeguards because genuine reforms would threaten their political survival.
“This claim that some states do not have network coverage is just another excuse,” he said.
“They are afraid of transparent elections because once elections become truly transparent, 90 per cent of those sitting in the National Assembly and even those in other elected offices, including the presidency, will not be there.”
He described the decision to retain manual collation as a subtle attempt to dilute the impact of electronic transmission of results.
“The way the amendment was done is clever by half,” Sowore said, adding that the clause opens the door to a return to the traditional, compromised system of declaring results.
He argued that relying on manual procedures undermines public confidence in elections and leaves room for manipulation.
Sowore also criticised the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) result management infrastructure, particularly the IREV platform, saying it no longer reflects global best practices.
“I am not impressed by these outdated arrangements,” he said. “By now, Nigeria should be looking at what countries like India are doing. India conducts elections for about 900 million registered voters using electronic voting, and the process is close to foolproof.”
Noting that Nigeria has around 90 million registered voters, he said the country should have no technological excuse to adopt electronic voting.
“We already carry out sensitive transactions digitally every day, transferring money, accessing personal records, conducting secure online activities, yet we still rely on manual systems for choosing political leaders,” Sowore added.
He warned that unless Nigeria embraces deeper technological reforms in its electoral process, public trust in elections will continue to decline, and democratic progress will remain limited.
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