Former Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, on Monday led hundreds of supporters and pro-democracy activists to the National Assembly in Abuja to protest the removal of “real-time” electronic transmission of election results from the Electoral Act Amendment Bill.
The protest, tagged “Occupy the National Assembly,” drew members of the Obidient Movement and several civil society organisations, who warned that the Senate’s recent amendments could undermine electoral transparency ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Last week, the Senate passed the Electoral Act 2022 (Repeal and Reenactment) Amendment Bill, 2026, but controversially deleted the phrase “real-time” from provisions relating to electronic transmission of results. Critics argue that the change weakens safeguards against manipulation during result collation.
Although lawmakers insisted that electronic transmission itself was not removed, protesters maintained that the omission of “real-time” could enable post-election interference and further erode public trust in the electoral process.
Carrying placards reading “Our votes must count,” “No to electoral robbery,” and “Defend democracy,” demonstrators marched from the Federal Secretariat to the National Assembly complex. However, they were stopped at the main gate by security operatives from the Nigeria Police Force, the Nigerian Army, and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps.
Addressing journalists outside the complex, Obi warned against what he described as the gradual weakening of Nigeria’s democratic institutions, stressing that credible elections remain central to national stability and development.
“We must dismantle this criminality and prove that Nigeria can be a beacon of hope and light in Africa,” Obi said.
His appearance galvanised the crowd, many of whom see him as a symbol of the youth-driven political reform movement that surged during the 2023 elections.
The National Coordinator of the Obidient Movement Worldwide, Dr Yunusa Tanko, vowed that protests would continue until lawmakers explicitly restore real-time electronic transmission of results in the amended law.
“If there is no electronic transmission of results, there will be no election. Our elections must be credible,” Tanko declared.
He noted that manual interference during collation has historically marred Nigeria’s elections, adding that electronic transmission was introduced to curb such abuses following reforms after the 2011 and 2015 polls.
Nigeria’s electoral reforms gathered momentum after the widely criticised 2007 elections, leading to the introduction of card readers in 2015 and the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) in 2022, both hailed as major steps towards improving transparency despite operational challenges.
Civil society groups had also pushed strongly for electronic transmission during debates leading to the 2022 Electoral Act, arguing that it would reduce human interference and strengthen public confidence in elections.
Another activist, Randy Peters, accused the political class of betraying democratic ideals and vowed to sustain pressure on the Senate.
“We will continue to return here until the Senate does the right thing. The struggle for June 12 was about free and fair elections,” he said.
Invoking the June 12, 1993 election, widely regarded as Nigeria’s freest and fairest, Peters questioned why elected leaders would resist reforms aimed at guaranteeing credible electoral outcomes.
“Are we afraid of losing elections? In 2027, our votes must count. That is the most important thing. We will be back here again tomorrow,” he added.