By Clifford Ndujihe, Politics Editor
Former Cross River State Resident Electoral Commissioner, REC, and lawyer, Mr. Mike Igini, has raised the alarm over what he described as a looming “institutional self-harm” by the National Assembly, warning that the controversial proviso qualifying real-time electronic transmission of polling unit results could cost a majority of federal lawmakers their seats in 2027.
In a strongly worded press statement, Igini urged senators and members of the House of Representatives to draw lessons from the fate of their predecessors, who, he said, suffered electoral defeat after refusing to close well-known loopholes in the nation’s electoral framework.
“As the National Assembly convenes to reconcile the divergent versions of the Electoral Act Amendment Bill—particularly with regard to the unequivocal demand by the Nigerian populace for mandatory electronic transmission of election results directly from polling units to the INEC Result Viewing Portal, IReV, I urge Honourable and Distinguished Senators to heed the salutary lessons from the misfortunes that befell their predecessors,” he said.
‘Victims of their own inaction’
Igini argued that earlier Assemblies, “for reasons of convenience and party loyalty,” declined to address “well-documented election rigging vulnerabilities” in the law, including the kind of proviso now introduced by the Senate to qualify direct electronic transmission.
“Such lacunae were exploited to subvert polling-unit outcomes during their tenure by those who denied them re-election party tickets, rendering them victims of the very defects they declined to remedy,” he stated.
Presenting what he described as empirical evidence from electoral cycles between 2007 and 2023, Igini said a majority of incumbent legislators denied party tickets by governors and party leaders—even after securing alternative platforms—were defeated during collation through manipulation of polling unit results.
“The 10th Assembly now stands perilously close to replicating this lamentable pattern,” he warned. “Those Members not favoured or not in the good books of their respective state governors or party leaders will foreseeably be denied tickets and, given the prospects of an unsecured e-transmission of polling unit results, will find it exceedingly difficult to translate constituency endorsement, however strong, into electoral victory.”
Disturbing turnover statistics
Igini backed his warning with data showing persistently high turnover rates in both chambers of the National Assembly.
In the Senate, the Sixth Senate (2007–2011) returned only 23 of 109 members, with 86 new entrants—representing a 79 per cent turnover. The Seventh Senate recorded 67 per cent turnover; the Eighth, 64 per cent; and the Ninth, 59 per cent.
“Alarmingly, the current 10th Senate (2023–2027) has regressed sharply, with only 25 returning Senators and 84 new entrants—translating to a staggering 77 per cent turnover,” he noted.
The House of Representatives, he said, mirrors the same instability. The Sixth House recorded 78 per cent turnover; the Seventh, 72 per cent; the Eighth, 69.4 per cent; and the Ninth, 57 per cent.
“However, the present 10th House (2023–2027) has again deteriorated, returning only 109 members while ushering in 251 new legislators, producing a 70 per cent turnover rate,” he added.
According to him, “across these electoral cycles, Nigerians and legislators have been the major victims and casualties of the type of proviso on e-transmission that has just been introduced.”
He stressed that the attrition rate, averaging between 60 and 70 per cent, breeds “institutional amnesia, dissipates scarce public resources on perpetual induction and retraining, weakens legislative oversight, and erodes continuity in law-making and executive accountability.”
Real-time transmission not optional
Igini insisted that real-time electronic transmission from polling units to IReV is “not merely desirable; it is essential for the sustenance of our democracy and for the political survival of deserving Legislature Members.”
“Nigerians have insistently demanded real-time electronic transmission from polling units to IReV, precisely to forestall post-polling alterations at ward or local government collation centres. Publicly viewable results serve as deterrence and would render such tampering manifest and actionable,” he said.
On the argument of poor network coverage, the former REC dismissed it as “largely excuses and completely specious.”
“Before we left office in 2022, INEC and NCC had carried out a survey of network coverage of both 2G and 3G and came with a report of over 97 per cent coverage across Nigeria. That was what the Commission used to carry out e-transmission of polling units results to IReV successfully in over 105 off-cycle elections, including five governorship elections before the 2023 elections,” he stated.
He further warned that the Senate’s proviso “invites mischief, affording opportunities for collusion between influential actors, collation officials, and telecommunication providers, to engineer deliberate network failures on election day.”
2012 Cross River pilot exercise
Recalling his tenure in Cross River State, Igini said real-time transmission had been successfully piloted as far back as 2012.
“For the record, way back in 2012 in Cross River State, as the Commissioner in charge of the state, the Commission under Professor Attahiri Jega carried out a successful real-time e-transmission pilot in the conduct of the second-term election of Governor Liyel Imoke, viewed on a dashboard in my office as collated results from the 18 LGAs were transmitted and updated across the state successfully,” he said.
He blamed persistent setbacks on what he termed “statute capture and statute sabotage, coupled with strange and questionable refusal of the courts to give effect to the laws.”
Under the 1999 Constitution, he argued, INEC’s regulatory authority under Section 160 to make its own rules and regulate its procedure is “unimpeachable,” in addition to its powers under Section 148 of the Electoral Act to issue binding regulations and guidelines.
“The refusal of the Court to give effect to it is simply unbelievable,” he said.
Appeal to NASS, judiciary
Igini called on lawmakers to “remove/excise the proviso and restore the original, unequivocal provision for direct, real-time electronic transmission as previously passed.”
“I equally call upon the judiciary, my constituency, not to make itself the weakest link in the line of defence of our democracy and the rule of law,” he added.
Describing the high legislative turnover as “incontrovertible,” he concluded: “The imperatives are clear. Let wisdom prevail over expediency, convenience and party loyalty lest history repeat its tragic verdict upon yet another Assembly. May God give us the courage to do what is right for the good of our country.”
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