Former Minister of Education, Oby Ezekwesili, has warned Nigerian senators that they are “playing with fire” by retaining ambiguities in the amended Electoral Act, insisting that Nigerians are demanding a clear legal provision for the real-time electronic upload of election results from polling units.
Speaking on ARISE News on Friday, Ezekwesili reacted to the Senate’s passage of the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill 2026, which followed hours of debate and controversy over provisions governing electronic transmission of results and the discretionary powers of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
She faulted the Senate for retaining Section 60(5) of the 2022 Electoral Act, a clause she described as “infamous” for creating loopholes that weakened public trust in the electoral process.
“The fundamental issue is that the Senate retained the INEC 2022 Act Section 60, subsection 5, which actually became infamous for the loophole that it provided for the INEC to not accord Nigerians the basis to trust it anymore,” Ezekwesili said.
She recalled assurances given by INEC ahead of the 2023 general elections, particularly to young voters, that results would be transmitted electronically to the results viewing portal.
“The then chairman of INEC kept telling especially the young people of this country that he was assuring them that they would exercise the effectiveness of using online transmission into the INEC results viewing portal,” she stated.
According to Ezekwesili, INEC’s failure to upload results electronically during the 2023 elections became the foundation for widespread suspicion and controversial judicial outcomes.
“When they failed to do that, it became the basis for doubting what happened at polling units across the country,” she said, noting that courts later ruled that the law did not mandate INEC to upload results at every polling unit.
She said Nigerians had embraced the amendment of the Electoral Act as an opportunity to close loopholes and restore confidence in the democratic process.
“Every ambiguity, every loophole, every opportunity for discretion on a matter that is at the heart of transparency, integrity and credibility must be taken out,” Ezekwesili argued.
The former minister said citizens were justified in expressing outrage over the Senate’s decision, warning that continued public disengagement from democracy should worry those in power.
“When citizens begin to disavow themselves from democracy, those who are in power should be worried,” she said, pointing to voter apathy in the 2023 elections where less than 35 per cent of registered voters participated.
Ezekwesili accused lawmakers of worsening public distrust by failing to act decisively on electoral transparency.
“They have a duty to the citizens,” she said. “Stop playing with fire. It’s almost as if the political class just wakes up every morning and asks, what shall we do today to upset Nigerians?”
Rejecting claims that citizens’ demands amount to incitement, she stressed that democracy belongs to the people, not politicians.
“Nigerian democracy belongs to the people. It doesn’t belong to the politicians,” she declared.
She called on the Senate to urgently reverse its decision by mandating real-time electronic transmission of results.
“I have recommended that the Senate should cancel their two-week emergency vacation and reconvene to pass a clear provision,” she said.
Ezekwesili proposed a specific clause mandating that presiding officers electronically transmit results from each polling unit to INEC’s Results Viewing Portal (IREV) in real time, after result forms are signed and stamped.
“The senators know how to walk away from this,” she concluded. “Fire is dangerous. Transparency is better.”
The controversy follows the Senate’s recent efforts to amend the 2022 Electoral Act ahead of the 2027 general elections. While lawmakers retained provisions allowing electronic transmission “in a manner as prescribed by the Commission,” they rejected proposals making real-time uploads mandatory — a move that has drawn sharp criticism from civil society groups, opposition parties, and election observers.
