Former Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, on Monday joined hundreds of protesters at the gates of the National Assembly in Abuja, demanding the restoration of “real-time” electronic transmission of election results in the amended Electoral Act.
The demonstration, tagged “Occupy the National Assembly,” was organised by members of the Obidient Movement, civil society groups, women’s organisations and a handful of opposition African Democratic Congress (ADC) supporters. The protesters accused lawmakers of weakening electoral safeguards ahead of the 2027 general elections by deleting the phrase “real-time” from provisions dealing with electronic transmission of results.
Last week, the Senate passed the Electoral Act 2022 (Repeal and Reenactment) Amendment Bill, 2026, through third reading. A key point of controversy was the removal of the words “real-time” from clauses relating to the electronic transmission of election results, a change critics argue creates room for manipulation during result collation.
Although the Senate has since issued clarifications insisting it did not reject electronic transmission outright, the protesters maintained that the absence of explicit “real-time electronic transmission” language leaves dangerous loopholes.
Chanting solidarity songs and holding placards with inscriptions such as “Our votes must count,” “No to electoral robbery,” and “Protect democracy now,” the demonstrators marched from the Federal Secretariat to the National Assembly complex.
They were, however, stopped at the entrance by a heavy security presence comprising personnel from the Nigeria Police Force, the Nigerian Army and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps. Security operatives barricaded the main gate, forcing the protesters to conduct their rally outside the premises.
Some civil society participants clarified that the group had no intention of breaching the complex but planned to stage the protest at the gate as a symbolic show of resistance.
Addressing journalists at the scene, Obi warned that Nigeria risked eroding hard-won democratic gains if credible elections were compromised.
“We must dismantle this criminality and prove that we are now a nation that shows light in Africa,” he said.
He urged the National Assembly to enact laws that make real-time electronic transmission of election results mandatory, recalling the controversy that trailed the 2023 elections when the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) cited technical glitches in uploading results.
“The danger was clear. We have suffered the danger. That’s what we have suffered before. We don’t want any glitch again. This is finished. We want things to come back to normal. No more glitch,” the former Anambra State governor declared.
Obi’s presence energised the crowd, many of whom view him as a symbol of the youth-driven political awakening that challenged Nigeria’s traditional political order in 2023.
The National Coordinator of the Obidient Movement Worldwide, Dr Yunusa Tanko, said the agitation would continue until the National Assembly explicitly reinstates real-time electronic transmission in the law.
“If there is no electronic transmission of results, there will be no election. Our elections must be credible,” Tanko said.
He noted that previous elections had been marred by manual interference during result collation, a problem electronic transmission was meant to solve following reforms introduced after the 2011 and 2015 elections.
Electoral reforms gained urgency after the widely criticised 2007 general elections. The introduction of card readers in 2015 and the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) in 2022 were hailed as major transparency measures, though implementation challenges remained.
Civil society groups had strongly pushed for electronic transmission provisions during debates leading to the 2022 Electoral Act, arguing that technology would minimise human interference and restore public confidence.
Popular activist Randy Peters, who also addressed the protesters, accused the political class of betraying democratic ideals and vowed sustained demonstrations.
“Tomorrow, we will be back here until the Senate does the right thing. The current administration supported the June 12 campaign. It was about free and fair elections,” he said.
Invoking the spirit of the June 12, 1993 election - widely regarded as Nigeria’s freest and fairest - Peters questioned why elected leaders would resist reforms designed to guarantee credible outcomes.
“Do we have Democrats who are afraid of losing elections? In 2027, our votes must count. The most important thing is that our votes must count,” he added.
Despite the barricades and tight security, the protesters remained orderly, insisting their mission was to send a clear message to lawmakers: Nigerians do not want a repeat of past “glitches” and demand firm legal guarantees for transparent, real-time transmission of election results.
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