By Ashiru Taofeek Adewale
The Social Democratic Party (SDP) has issued a stark warning that resistance within the Senate leadership to mandating real-time electronic transmission of election results risks undermining public trust and could precipitate a fresh credibility crisis in the 2027 general elections.
The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Rufus Aiyenigba, in a statement released in Abuja, accused the leadership of the 10th Senate of acting against the “popular will” of Nigerians, who had overwhelmingly called for the reform during nationwide public hearings on the proposed Electoral Act (Repeal and Enactment) Bill 2026.
“The SDP is deeply worried by the unimaginable and unpatriotic resistance of the leadership of the 10th Senate to positive change,” Aiyenigba stated. He argued that this opposition contradicts the expressed desire of citizens, the majority of lawmakers, and the reform-oriented stance of the current Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) leadership.
The SDP’s central demand is for the new Electoral Act to eliminate any legal ambiguity. The party insists the law must contain an “unambiguous legislative mandate” compelling presiding officers to transmit results electronically from polling units in real-time.
This push stems directly from the controversies of the 2023 elections. While INEC used technologies like the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV), Section 60(5) of the 2022 Act stated results be transmitted “in a manner as prescribed by the Commission.” The Supreme Court later interpreted this wording as granting INEC discretion, ruling that the failure to upload results in real-time did not legally invalidate the election.
Opposition parties and civil society groups now seek to replace this discretionary language with a compulsory mandate, closing what they see as a loophole for potential manipulation.
Labeling elements within the Senate as “self-serving cabals,” the SDP warned they “must not be allowed to hold our democracy to ransom.” The party urged citizens, civil society organizations, and pro-democracy groups to remain vigilant and actively oppose any legislative retreat.
“The nation cannot afford to have the 2027 general elections go the way of a lack of credibility as we had in 2023. All hands must be on deck to save our democracy from taking retrograde steps,” the statement concluded.
The debate unfolds amid ongoing Senate deliberations on amending the Electoral Act. This week, the Senate faced significant public criticism following reports that it had rejected electronic transmission proposals alongside a ban on vote-buying.
However, on Thursday, the Senate Minority Caucus clarified that it had not rejected electronic transmission, seeking to counter the widespread negative reports. The SDP’s statement appears to directly challenge the position of the Senate’s leadership, rather than the chamber as a whole, framing the issue as a battle between democratic modernization and entrenched resistance.
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