Ex-Vice President Atiku Abubakar on Tuesday called on opposition political parties to unite in advocating for transparent and credible elections, stressing the urgent need for a fully electronic transmission system to reduce confusion in Nigeria’s electoral process.
At a press briefing in Minna, Niger State, following a closed-door meeting with former Military President General Ibrahim Babangida, Atiku said the current mixture of electronic and manual transmission could create challenges for voters and electoral officials.
“The expectations of Nigerians, Nigerians who are 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 have a single-tier, you know, electoral transmission system, which is real-time electronic.
“That would be our preference. And I think there is need for all the opposition political parties to come together to pursue this issue,” he said.
He described the Senate’s recent adoption of the amended Clause 60(3) of the Electoral Act—which allows electronic transmission of results while keeping manual collation as a backup—as a compromise that falls short of full transparency.
“I mean we shouldn’t allow it to rest where they wanted it to rest today. Absolutely not. I don’t support that,” he added.
Asked about his presence in Minna and the 2027 presidential election, Atiku explained. “Is it the first time that you have seen me here? Certainly not. I have always come here to pay my respects.
“The issue of contesting the 2027 election does not even arise. I am a member of ADC, and we are busy trying to make sure that our structures are firmly rooted, from the ward level, local government level, state level, up to the national level.
“And we are busy mobilising people and also registering at the same time.”
Atiku also addressed zoning in political parties, noting that the African Democratic Congress has no such provision. “In fact, the only party that has zoning in its constitution is PDP,” he said.
The comments come in the wake of the Senate’s emergency plenary, which reconsidered a disputed clause in the Electoral Act Amendment Bill.
The upper chamber approved the transmission of results to the Independent National Electoral Commission’s Result Viewing Portal, while retaining manual collation as a backup in areas where technology fails.
The chamber also stopped short of making electronic transmission compulsory and rejected real-time upload of results.
