A counter-argument grounded in capacity, not politics
As pressure mounts on lawmakers to mandate real-time electronic transmission of election results, a dissenting voice has emerged from within government circles. Abiodun Ajiboye, executive secretary of the National Institute for Cultural Orientation, says the push risks turning reform into exclusion.
Speaking on a televised interview, Ajiboye cautioned that Nigeria’s current digital infrastructure cannot reliably support compulsory nationwide real-time transmission without disenfranchising voters in rural and underserved communities.
When reform meets the reality of infrastructure
Ajiboye argued that while electronic transmission may strengthen transparency in theory, making it mandatory ignores persistent gaps in electricity supply, internet coverage and telecom capacity across large swathes of the country.
“Some rural communities do not even have electricity,” he said, warning that enforcing real-time transmission by law could systematically exclude voters where connectivity fails, rather than improve electoral credibility.
Discretion versus compulsion
Central to Ajiboye’s position is the role of the Independent National Electoral Commission. He maintained that INEC should retain discretion to deploy technology based on feasibility, instead of being legally compelled to transmit results in real time regardless of conditions on the ground.
According to him, manual voting and collation remain core to Nigeria’s electoral process, raising questions about how real-time electronic transmission would function seamlessly within that framework.
Security risks behind the servers
Beyond infrastructure, Ajiboye raised concerns about cyber vulnerabilities. He cited attacks on INEC’s digital systems during the last general election, warning that over-reliance on technology could expose the process to hacking, disruption or targeted interference.
“The last election showed how exposed servers can be,” he said, adding that technology should complement verification, not become a single point of failure.
Opposition pressure, competing visions
Ajiboye’s comments come amid sustained calls from opposition figures, including Peter Obi and Atiku Abubakar, for mandatory real-time transmission as a safeguard against manipulation.
While proponents argue that compulsion would restore trust after the 2023 elections, Ajiboye insists that credibility cannot be built on systems the country is not yet equipped to support.
The narrow line lawmakers must now walk
With the Senate moving to harmonise its Electoral Act amendments with the House of Representatives, Ajiboye’s intervention sharpens the dilemma before lawmakers: how to strengthen transparency without hard-coding failure into the system.
Mandating real-time transmission may close one set of loopholes while opening another — particularly for voters at the margins of connectivity.
What the law will ultimately choose
If lawmakers opt for flexibility, INEC’s discretion will remain central, preserving adaptability but leaving critics uneasy about transparency. If they impose compulsion, they risk binding elections to infrastructure that may not always deliver.
Ajiboye’s warning underscores a reality shaping the reform debate: in Nigeria’s elections, credibility depends not only on intention, but on what the system can reliably carry.
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