If Criminals Can Stream Their Crimes, Why Can’t Nigeria Transmit Election Results?

 By Jude Obuseh

In today’s Nigeria, the contradiction is stark and unsettling. Armed groups in remote forests upload videos in real time. Kidnappers broadcast proof-of-life clips within minutes. Terrorists circulate propaganda across multiple platforms with ease. Yet, when it comes to elections—the very foundation of democratic legitimacy—citizens are repeatedly told that electronic transmission of results is “not always feasible.” 

The question therefore forces itself into the national conscience: if bandits can transmit their crimes live, why can’t the Nigerian state transmit election results electronically? This is not a debate about abstract technology. Nigeria has over 120 million internet subscribers, according to data from the Nigerian Communications Commission, and mobile network coverage extends to over 85 percent of the population. Banks process millions of electronic transactions daily.

Presidental Election 2023: Demonstration Of Craze

 By Ighodalo Clement Eromosele

The expectation by Nigerians of a free, fair, transparent and credible presidential election; the hope that results from the polling units will be transmitted directly to INEC Result Viewing portal (IReV); the enthusiasm kindled in Nigerians, many, first-time voters to perform a civic duty of voting have all been eroded by processes characterized by multiple irregularities, foremost of which was the failure by INEC officials to transmit results for the presidential elections directly from the polling units in accordance with the provisions of the 2022 Electoral Act and with the much publicized INEC election guidelines.

INEC has arrogated the failure to do so as arising from glitches in the electronic systems. Yet, the results for the National Assembly Elections were transmitted by the same systems. This contradiction is befuddling and it is a trust deficit for INEC.