Electoral Act Reform: Citizens Have Every Reason to Be Outraged by Senate’s Resolution — Ezekwesili

​Former Minister of Education and transparency advocate, Dr. Oby Ezekwesili, has slammed the Nigerian Senate following its decision to retain controversial provisions in the Electoral Act, asserting that citizens are right to feel betrayed. The outcry follows the Senate’s review of the Electoral Act, where lawmakers reportedly retained Section 60, Subsection 5 of the 2022 Act—a clause Ezekwesili describes as an "infamous" loophole that provided the basis for the public to lose trust in the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

​The vocal activist noted that the section became a flashpoint during the last general elections when the electoral body failed to fulfill its promise of real-time result transmission. According to Ezekwesili, the then-Chairman of INEC had repeatedly assured Nigerians, particularly the youth, that they would exercise the effectiveness of using online transmission into the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal.

​The failure to mandate electronic transmission has had lasting legal and social consequences, as Ezekwesili pointed out that this specific legal loophole formed the basis for judicial pronouncements which ruled that INEC is not legally mandated to upload results from every polling unit. Once that was established as the basis for the opacity and "shenanigans" seen with polling results, she argued that the opportunity for reform was one that citizens and lawmakers felt must not be missed to ensure the transparency, integrity, and legitimacy of the democracy.

Source: Arise News 

​Despite the nationwide demand for clarity, the Senate's decision to "let sleeping dogs lie" has been met with significant backlash. Ezekwesili emphasized that because this matter sits at the heart of democratic credibility, the public has every reason to be as outraged as they currently are. She maintained that every opportunity for discretion on the part of the institution must be removed to protect the heart of the nation's democratic process.

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