Amended Electoral Act will weaken transparency, democratic integrity- Adebayo

…. warns discretionary e-transmission

Former presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Prince Adewole Adebayo, has criticised the recent amendments to Nigeria’s Electoral Act signed into law by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, describing the move as a setback for transparency and democratic integrity.

In a statement posted on his official X handle, @Pres_Adebayo, Adebayo accused the Federal Government of prioritising “loopholes over transparency” by weakening provisions for the electronic transmission of election results.

He said that although electronic transmission has not been scrapped entirely, the revisions to the 2022 Electoral Act make it discretionary rather than mandatory — a change he believes could undermine the credibility of future elections.

“I was in Abuja and saw the anger of the Nigerian people after the government approved revisions to the 2022 Electoral Act,” Adebayo wrote, adding that leaving real-time transmission open to discretion creates a dangerous loophole.

The SDP chieftain argued that making electronic transmission optional effectively returns the system to manual collation as the default practice, increasing the risk of manipulation and eroding public trust in the electoral process.

Describing the amendment as “a blow against the very essence of Nigerian democracy,” he alleged that removing mandatory electronic transmission makes it easier to tamper with results.

Adebayo urged Nigerians to continue demanding transparency and fairness, insisting that while the law may have changed, the call for credible and accountable elections remains.