FORMER presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Adewole Adebayo, has strongly criticised the recent amendments to Nigeria’s Electoral Act signed into law by President Bola Tinubu, describing the move as a setback for transparency and democratic integrity.
Relatedly, governorship hopeful of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in Oyo State, Niyi Aborisade, has cautioned against the misuse of manual result transfer in future elections, warning that it must not become an avenue for electoral manipulation.
On his part, former Director-General of Voice of Nigeria (VON), Osita Okechukwu, said festering crises in the opposition political parties are fuelling the illusion of a one-party structure in the country.
In a statement posted on his official X (formerly Twitter) account, Adebayo accused the Federal Government of prioritising “loopholes over transparency” by weakening provisions for the electronic transmission of election results.
According to the SDP leader, while electronic transmission has not been completely abolished, the new revisions to the 2022 Electoral Act make it discretionary rather than mandatory — a shift he believes could undermine the credibility of future elections.
“I was in Abuja and saw the anger of the Nigerian people after the government approved revisions to the 2022 Electoral Act,” Adebayo wrote. “What should have been mandatory, real-time transmission, has been left open to discretion. That loophole matters.”
The prominent politician argued that making electronic transmission optional effectively returns the system to manual collation as the default practice, increasing the risk of manipulation and eroding public trust.
“When electronic transmission is optional, manual collation of results becomes the practical default. And when results move through opaque channels, trust in the process is damaged,” he said.
The SDP chieftain described the signing of the amended law as “a blow against the very essence of Nigerian democracy,” alleging that the administration is deliberately shielding itself from transparency.
Removing the mandatory electronic transmission makes it easier to manipulate the results — and that is unacceptable,” Adebayo stated. “This administration is attacking the very democracy that generations of Nigerians fought so hard to secure.”
He further accused President Tinubu of dishonouring the legacy of Nigeria’s democratic struggle, claiming the changes represent “a shameless attempt to remain in power.”
Adebayo maintained that Nigeria should be advancing towards full electronic voting rather than weakening technological safeguards in the electoral process. He pointed out that Nigerians already rely on electronic systems for banking, business and communication, questioning why similar trust should not apply to the protection of votes.
