Samson Itodo, executive director of Yiaga Africa, has criticised the Senate’s decision to reject real-time transmission of election results, describing it as a betrayal of public trust and a reversal of key electoral reforms.
Itodo spoke on Wednesday during News Night on Arise Television while reacting to the passage of the Electoral Act Amendment Bill 2025 by the Senate.
“I think what the senate has done by this act is to betray the trust of Nigerians,” Itodo said.
“Not just betray the trust of Nigerians, but also rubbish all the gains we have made.
“What happened is a regression and a dangerous retreat from the lofty reforms introduced by the 2022 Electoral Act.”
Dispute Over Electronic Transmission
The Senate passed the amended electoral law on Wednesday but ruled out a provision mandating real-time transmission of election results.
Lawmakers, however, said they retained electronic transmission as provided in the 2022 Electoral Act.
Itodo disagreed with that position. He accused Senate President Godswill Akpabio of misrepresenting what the bill actually contained.
“I completely disagree with the Senate president. He is being clever by half,” Itodo said.
“The Supreme Court was clear in its rulings after the 2023 elections that electronic transmission was unknown to the law and that INEC could not introduce it through guidelines.”
According to him, the national assembly initially acted to correct that gap.
“The committees took that judicial pronouncement and updated the law,” he said.
“What the house passed was clear: electronic transmission of results was part of the process.
The report even mentioned IREV. So to say otherwise is not correct.”
Concerns Over Compressed Timelines
Beyond result transmission, Itodo also faulted changes to the election timetable introduced in the amended law.
He said shortening the period for issuing notices of election and conducting party primaries would create serious logistical problems for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
“The reason the 2022 act provided 360 days was to allow for logistics,” he said.
“Now primaries will hold about 90 days, and INEC will publish the list of candidates 60 days to the election.
“For heaven’s sake, when will INEC produce ballot papers?”
He warned that the changes could complicate preparations for the 2027 general election.
Akpabio Defends Senate Stance
Meanwhile, Akpabio has rejected claims that the Senate removed electronic transmission from the law.
“Distinguished colleagues, the social media is already awash with reports that the Senate has literally rejected electronic transmission of results,” Akpabio said on Wednesday. “That is not true.”
He said lawmakers only retained the existing provision used during the 2022 elections.
“What we did was to retain the electronic transmission, which was in the act and was used in 2022,” he said.
Akpabio urged Nigerians not to be misled by online commentary.
“So please, do not allow people to confuse you,” he said. “If you are in doubt, we will make our final votes and proceedings available to you if you apply.”
He added, “This senate under my watch has not rejected the electronic transmission of results. We have retained what was in the previous provision. We cannot afford to be going backwards.”
