Amid public outrage sparked by the Senate’s removal of electronic transmission of election results from the electoral bill passed on Wednesday, Nigerians have spoken out against the decision, berating the Godswill Akpabio-led Senate.

Wondering why the provision was removed from the law, Nigerians on social media said that if bandits in the forest could deploy modern technology to livestream their activities from their hideouts, INEC has no excuse for avoiding the transmission of election results.

An X user, @c_edoka, said, “If criminals operating in forests can use modern technology effortlessly, then the problem is not capacity. It’s intent. Keeping elections analogue in a digital age only creates room for manipulation after polling ends.”

@CaptainArinze said, “Bandits have TikTok accounts. Some of them stream live from wherever they are. But we can’t electronically transmit the results of our elections. Bandits are tech-savvy and digital. INEC is analogue.”

Another X user, @Lottydon1, said, “APC bandit politicians know exactly what they are doing. They know they can’t win the election if things are done correctly. They are just banking on their result-forging expertise. My own frustration is that it is still the learned professors who will help them rig this same election.”

@akindology said, “There’s no way a sane person in this country will not be upset. I don’t think it’s a problem of INEC not being able to transmit results electronically; it’s the Senate that is rejecting/not wanting to make it a requirement. It can and should be done, we just don’t want to.”

Oby Ezekwesili, a former minister of education, berated the Senate in a statement on her social media page on Thursday. Warning the lawmakers against citizens’ anger, she said the lawmakers ought to “know when to stop playing with fire”.

“The Senate yesterday voted against a proposed amendment to make electronic transmission of election results mandatory in the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill, and then proceeded to try to deceive Nigerians by claiming that it ‘did not reject electronic transmission’,” Mrs Ezekwesili said. “I am certain that by now the Senators have heard the unified stance of Nigerians on electronic transmission of results since the news of their unpopular decision was published yesterday, and will therefore avoid plunging the country into crisis.”

She added, “The Senate knows that ‘discretion’ does not reassure citizens. That is why Nigerians see this Senate vote against a legal mandate for electronic transmission of results for what it is- a willful and deliberate refusal to close the door that was abused in 2023. 

“This action sends a clear signal to Nigerians that lessons from 2023 have been ignored, that transparency is negotiable, and that those in power prefer plausible deniability to democratic certainty.”

Public outrage has trailed the Senate’s decision to remove electronic transmission of results from the Electoral Act since it was taken during plenary on Wednesday.

On Thursday, a group of Senators accused Senate President Godswill Akpabio of removing the passage of the electronic transmission of election results from the electoral bill during proceedings on Wednesday.

At a press conference, the senators led by Enyinnaya Abaribe, Aminu Tambuwal, and Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, insisted on retaining electronic transmission of election results in the electoral bill.