Once again, the Nigerian Senate has chosen the path of regression. Once again, they have demonstrated that the interests of the Nigerian people are secondary perhaps even irrelevant to their calculations for power, privilege, and political survival. In a move that has left millions of Nigerians stunned, angered, and exhausted, the Senate has rejected the mandatory electronic transmission of election results in real time.
Yes, you heard that right. in 2026, in a country where banking, commerce, communication, and even criminal activity have gone digital, the Senate insists that elections must remain trapped in the analog darkness of the past. So are they trying to convince us that, the money captured in the budget to equip INEC towards the forthcoming election, is for them to write the results on paper and repeat same old and failed process? This is not just a legislative decision. It is a declaration of intent. It is a loud, unapologetic proclamation that transparency threatens them, that accountability terrifies them, and that the will of the Nigerian people is an inconvenience they would rather suppress than respect.
Just last week, in my previous column, I warned about the suffocating state of Nigeria’s democracy. I stressed the urgent need for electoral reform and called out the opposition parties for their chronic passivity keyboard warriors masquerading as political actors. And now, as if to validate every fear Nigerians have about the decay of our democratic institutions, the Senate has delivered a blow so brazen, so shameless, that it should alarm every citizen who still believes in the possibility of a functional republic.
The rejection of mandatory electronic transmission is not a neutral policy choice. It is a deliberate assault on electoral transparency. It is a victory for opacity. It is a slap in the face of Nigerian democracy.
THE SENATE’S EXCUSES A MASTERCLASS IN INSULTING THE INTELLIGENCE OF NIGERIANS
The arguments presented by the Senate are not only laughable, they are embarrassing. They claim that network challenges in rural areas would impede electronic transmission. They claim the system could be hacked. They claim Nigeria is not ready when it comes to security. Like Really?
This is the same country where:
WhatsApp calls with Terrorist works in Sambisa Forest. POS machines function in remote villages with no paved roads. E-registration for political parties is happening nationwide. E-transfers move billions daily without incident. INEC already uses BVAS, which stores and transmits data securely.
But suddenly, when it comes to elections the one process that determines who controls the nation’s wealth and power technology becomes unreliable?
Who do they think they are fooling?
If network coverage is truly the issue, why not fix it? Why not make efforts to ensure the right provisions are made to bridge that gap? Why not collaborate with network providers? Why not deploy satellite-based systems like Starlink? Why not invest in infrastructure that strengthens democracy?
The answer is simple they do not want transparency. Because transparency disrupts rigging. Transparency exposes manipulation. Transparency ends the era of writing results in hotel rooms and government houses. Transparency threatens the political class.
This is not about security or network coverage. This is about maintaining the status quo of preserving their grip on power, and ensuring that the ruling elite continue to have their way in rigging elections and lining their pockets with the nation’s wealth than in serving the people.
THE SECURITY ARGUMENT A DISTRACTION NOT A DEFENSE
The Senate’s fallback excuse security concerns is equally hollow. If security is truly the issue, then the solution is to strengthen INEC, not weaken it. Provide the commission with the tools, funding, and autonomy it needs. Equip it with the technology required to secure the process.
But no. Instead of empowering INEC, the Senate has chosen to cripple it.
THE BENEFITS THEY CHOSE TO IGNORE
The truth is that The Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) is designed to transmit results even without immediate network access. The data is locked, queued, and uploaded once connectivity is restored. This is not theory, it is practice. Countries across Africa, including Ghana, Kenya, and South Africa, have successfully implemented similar systems.
Nigeria is not an exception. Nigeria is simply being held hostage by a political class that fears the consequences of a transparent election.
Electronic transmission: The benefits of electronic transmission are numerous.
Reduces human error, eliminates manual manipulation, speeds up collation, provides an auditable digital trail, enhances public trust and protects the integrity of the vote.
These are not abstract benefits. They are the foundation of credible elections. Yet the Senate has chosen to ignore them because credible elections threaten their comfort.
The rejection of electronic transmission is a clear indication that the Senate is not interested in ensuring transparency and accountability in the electoral process that will enable Nigerians choose their leaders through a free and fair process. It’s a move that undermines the credibility of the electoral commission and raises questions about the motives of the Senate. Are they afraid that electronic transmission will expose their electoral malpractices? Are they afraid that it will reduce their ability to buy votes and manipulate the system?
THE OPPOSITION MISSING IN ACTION AGAIN
And where is the opposition in all this?
Where are the so-called defenders of democracy? Where are the voices that should be mobilising the nation? Where are the leaders who claim to represent the people?
Instead of action, we get tweets. Instead of strategy, we get keypad warriors. Instead of leadership, we get press releases.
Atiku Abubakar tweeting about electoral reform from Saudi Arabia is not leadership. It is political theatre. It is a mockery of the democratic struggle. Nigeria deserves better than opposition figures who only find their voices when they are abroad or when elections are near.
The opposition is not an alternative. It is a spectator. And spectators do not win battles for democracy.
NIGERIANS SEE THROUGH THE CHARADE
The Nigerian people are not fools. They see the Senate for what it has become a sanctuary for self-preservation. They see the opposition for what it is a collection of political entrepreneurs more interested in optics than outcomes.
Nigerians understand that this decision is not about logistics. It is about power. It is about control. It is about ensuring that elections remain predictable not for the people, but for the political elite.
CALL TO ACTION NIGERIANS MUST RISE
To the Senators of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, I am sure you have heard the unified stance of the people. You have seen the outrage. You know the will of the nation. It is time to reverse this decision. Adopt the clause of mandatory real time electronic transmission of election results. This is not a partisan demand it is a national necessity. The people have spoken, and it’s time to listen.
To my fellow Nigerians, we cannot continue to lament from the side lines. We cannot outsource our democracy to politicians who have shown time and again that they cannot be trusted with it. We must act!
Let us learn from Ghana. Let us learn from Kenya. Let us learn from South Africa.
These nations embraced transparency. They embraced technology. They embraced progress. Nigeria can do the same if we demand it. Not just as protesters, but as stakeholders demanding accountability and transparency.
WHAT WE MUST DO NOW
- Occupy the National Assembly: Let’s gather at the National Assembly grounds, not violently but firmly, not destructively, but persistently. We must show up as citizens, not spectators. We must demand accountability. We’ll stay until the Senate reverses its decision and adopts real-time electronic transmission.
- Organize Town Hall Meetings: Let’s organize town hall meetings across the country, mobilising our communities and re-orienting them on the importance of electoral transparency. Let every community understand what is at stake. Let every voter know why transparency matters. Let every citizen become a defender of democracy.
- Launch a Social Media Blitz: Let’s flood social media with #ElectoralTransparency and #RealTimeTransmissionNow, tagging our elected officials and demanding action.
- Submit Petitions and Letters: Let’s deliver petitions and letters to the Senate, signed by millions of Nigerians, demanding electoral reform. One message, Nigeria deserves transparent elections.
- Engage in Peaceful Civil Disobedience: If necessary, let’s engage in peaceful civil disobedience, refusing to participate in a system that denies us our fundamental right to free and fair elections. If the system refuses to respect our rights, we must refuse to legitimise its failures. A democracy that denies transparency is not a democracy. It is an illusion.
A WARNING TO THE SENATE
In the words of Prof. Pat Utomi- “Those who make peaceful change impossible make violent change inevitable.”
The Senate must not push Nigeria toward instability. The people are patient, but patience has limits.
Listen now, before the consequences become irreversible.
THE FUTURE IS IN OUR HANDS
Nigeria will not be rescued by foreign observers. Nigeria will not be saved by international organizations. Nigeria will not be transformed by politicians who profit from its dysfunction. The salvation of this nation rests squarely on the shoulders of its citizens, on the courage of ordinary people who refuse to be silenced, on the resilience of youths who refuse to be side-lined, and on the determination of communities that refuse to surrender their future to a political class that has failed them repeatedly.
This is the moment when Nigerians must decide whether we will continue to endure a democracy that exists only on paper or rise to build one that truly reflects the will of the people. This is the moment when we must reject the culture of fear, apathy, and resignation that the political elite depends on. This is the moment when we must stand together, not as spectators, but as custodians of a nation that still has the potential to rise from the ashes of misrule.
Let us rise with clarity.
Let us rise with conviction. Let us rise with the unshakeable belief that Nigeria belongs to all of us, not to a handful of power brokers. Let us unite across tribe, faith, and region to demand a democracy that is transparent, accountable, and genuinely representative. The stakes are immense, the hour is urgent, and history is watching.
Nigeria deserves better. Nigeria demands better. And Nigeria will become better, but only if we fight for it with the same determination that our founding fathers envisioned and the same courage that our children will one day thank us for.
NigeriaDeservesBetter #ElectoralTransparency #RealTimeTransmissionNow
Boma Lilian Braide (Esq.)
(Founder of The Surge Network)
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