11 January 2026
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has strongly rejected the Senate’s latest amendment to the Electoral Act that permits manual transmission of election results in situations where technology fails, describing the move as a dangerous “backdoor” for electoral manipulation.
In a statement issued on Wednesday by its National Publicity Secretary, Comrade Ini Ememobong, the opposition party urged the National Assembly Conference Committee to immediately discard the Senate’s position and adopt the House of Representatives’ version of the bill, which mandates real-time electronic transmission of election results and accreditation data.
The PDP warned that any attempt to weaken electronic transmission provisions could seriously threaten the credibility of Nigeria’s 2027 general elections and reverse progress made in strengthening democratic transparency.
According to the party, the Senate’s inclusion of a manual transmission option is “clever by half,” arguing that manual processes are already covered in the existing law and that introducing a fresh clause creates loopholes that could be exploited to tamper with election results.
The party stressed that electronic transmission serves as a critical second layer of verification, helping to prevent alterations during the collation process — a problem it says has historically undermined election integrity in Nigeria.
The PDP also maintained that since the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) is already deployed successfully for voter accreditation, claims of potential transmission failures are questionable, suggesting that such breakdowns could be deliberately engineered to enable fraud.
In a pointed remark, the party alleged that opposition to full electronic transmission is influenced by personal political interests, specifically accusing Senate President Godswill Akpabio of being “haunted by the ghost of his 2019 election loss,” which it linked to the role of technology in curbing irregularities.
The PDP called on lawmakers to place national interest above partisan considerations, warning that those who resist electoral transparency would be remembered negatively in Nigeria’s democratic history.
It further urged Nigerians to remain vigilant and continue demanding full real-time electronic transmission of election results, insisting that safeguarding democracy must not be left solely in the hands of politicians.
Reporting by SUNTV Global Channel.
