By Femi Falana
Nigeria stands at a defining electoral moment. The ongoing amendment to the Electoral Act presents not merely a technical legislative adjustment but a historic opportunity to consolidate democratic transparency and institutional credibility. At the heart of this debate lies the issue of the real-time electronic transmission of polling unit results, a matter that has generated controversy, misunderstanding, and policy uncertainty.
Let us begin by clarifying the issue. Nigeria does not operate electronic voting. Ballots are cast manually. Votes are counted manually. Results are recorded manually on Form EC8A. The debate before the nation is not about transmitting digital votes. It is about whether the scanned copy of the duly completed and signed polling unit result sheet should be electronically uploaded directly from the polling unit immediately after counting and signing.
