Former Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Commissioner, Dr. Mustapha Lecky, has stated that Nigeria is not yet prepared for real-time electronic transmission of election results.
Lecky made the remarks on Friday during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today, amid ongoing debates over the Senate’s rejection of electronic transmission in the Electoral Act Amendment Bill.
The Senate on Wednesday reportedly turned down a proposed amendment to Clause 60, sub-section 3 of the bill, which sought to make electronic transmission of results compulsory.
Reacting to the development, Dr. Lecky said, “It doesn’t really make sense to me that we should be talking about instantaneous transmission of results as it happens because we don’t do electronic voting anywhere. Nigeria is not yet ready for that.
“You have to think about these things together. It’s not electronic voting. When we do electronic voting, then it can be instantaneous. But if people are still using paper ballots and counting them manually, one by one, the argument for real-time electronic transmission is baseless. We simply don’t need it yet.”
His comments reflect concerns that Nigeria’s current voting infrastructure and processes may not support live transmission of results, raising questions about the feasibility of implementing such reforms ahead of future elections.
Former INEC Commissioner Says Nigeria Not Ready for Real-Time Electronic Election Results
