Atiku rejects manual collation, asks opposition to insist on real-time transmission of election results

Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar has faulted the senate for not authorising real-time transmission of election results to the Independent National Electoral Commission’s result viewing portal (IReV).

On Tuesday, the upper legislative chamber approved the electronic transmission of election results to IReV, but with a clause that manual collation should serve as a fallback where the technology fails.

Last week, the senate passed the Electoral Act amendment bill but rejected a proposal on real-time transmission of election results—a move that has sparked protests and calls for lawmakers to reverse the decision.

Speaking with journalists on Tuesday in Minna, the capital of Niger state, after meeting Ibrahim Babangida, former head of state, Abubakar said the senate’s decision will cause confusion in the electoral system.

“Nigerians were expecting real-time electronic transfer to the various levels of the elections, but what we got is a mixture of electronic and manual transmission, which is going to cause more confusion or chaos than if we had a single-tier electoral transmission system, which is real-time electronic. That would be our preference,” he said.

He called on opposition political parties to rally against the senate decision and demand real-time transmission of election results.

“There is a need for all the opposition political parties to come together to pursue this issue. I mean, we shouldn’t allow it to rest where they wanted it to rest today. Absolutely not. I don’t support that,” he said.

Asked if he will run for president in 2023, Abubakar said the question is not under consideration, explaining that his focus within the African Democratic Congress (ADC) is on strengthening the party’s structures from the ward through the local government and state levels to the national level.

“And we are busy mobilising people and also registering at the same time,” he said.

Abubakar also addressed questions about zoning, saying there is no such provision in the ADC constitution.

“In fact, the only party that has zoning in its constitution is PDP,” Abubakar said. (The Cable)