Oluwole Osaze-Uzzi, former director of voter education and publicity at the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has warned that the discretionary transmission clause in the newly amended Electoral Act creates clear room for abuse.
Osaze-Uzzi spoke on Thursday during an appearance on Arise Television’s breakfast programme, The Morning Show.
His warning comes as debate intensifies over Clause 60(3) of the Electoral Act Amendment Bill, which President Bola Tinubu recently signed into law.
Clause 60(3) Raises Concerns
Clause 60(3) mandates the electronic transmission of election results, provided communication does not fail.
However, civil society organisations and opposition figures have challenged the conditional wording. They argue that the proviso introduces a loophole that could weaken transparency.
Drawing from experience, Osaze-Uzzi said Nigeria has faced similar problems before.
“We have been in the trenches. We have done this before,” he said.
Fear of a Return to the ‘Incident Form’ Era
To support his argument, Osaze-Uzzi recalled the introduction of the Smart Card Reader and the backup mechanism known as the incident form.
At the time, INEC created the incident form to prevent voter disenfranchisement whenever card readers malfunctioned. Over time, however, officials and political actors exploited the exception.
“That lacuna became the norm,” he said.
According to him, the new transmission clause could follow the same trajectory.
“If transmission fails and the primary evidence becomes the manual EC8A, then the provisional becomes the norm,” he said.
Manual Results Could Override Electronic Transmission
Furthermore, Osaze-Uzzi explained that a presiding officer could claim transmission failure and rely entirely on Form EC8A, the manual result sheet.
“Whether he tried or did not try, perhaps he has been compromised, he will say it failed,” he said.
In such situations, collation and returning officers may proceed with the manual results.
He warned that this discretionary power could encourage manipulation during collation.
“Our fear is borne out of what we have experienced in the past,” he added.
Risk to Poll Officials
Beyond procedural concerns, Osaze-Uzzi raised alarm over the safety of presiding officers, many of whom are young Nigerians deployed for election duty.
He said voters may react strongly if they suspect that an official deliberately refused to transmit results electronically.
“If an honest presiding officer tries to transmit and cannot, people around may accuse him of being compromised,” he said.
As a result, tensions could escalate at polling units.
“His life is at risk. The lives of those young Nigerians put out on patriotic duty are at risk.”
