By Olu Fasan
The vexed debate over the Senate’s refusal to guarantee “mandatory” and “real-time” electronic transmission of results in the electoral law ignores two fundamental problems. The first is Nigeria’s utterly weak state capacity; the second is the total lack of institutional independence.
Even if the electoral act provides for mandatory and real-time transmission of election results, “mandatory” will not be mandatory and “real-time” won’t be real-time. Furthermore, INEC and the courts can’t be trusted to be above board in discharging their duties. Both problems discredited previous presidential elections in Nigeria and look likely to undermine the 2027 poll.
