Amid rising criticism of the proposed Electoral Act amendments, African Democratic Congress (ADC) leader Kenneth Okonkwo has called on the Senate to remove provisions permitting manual transmission of election results entirely.
Speaking on Tuesday on Channels Television Politics Today, Okonkwo emphasized that results should be transmitted directly from polling units to prevent manipulation.
“Once they put that law that you must transmit from the polling unit, I am okay. So any polling officer would not leave the polling unit,” the actor-turned politician said.
Okonkwo went on to argue that elections should be annulled if electronic transmission fails, insisting that “the House of Representatives should go further to say that where it is not possible to transmit from the polling unit, that election should be cancelled.”
Addressing concerns over whether annulment is appropriate when electronic transmission fails, he emphasized that the entire electoral process revolves around credible results.
“The reason you are doing accreditation, voting is for the result. If you do all these things to get a fraudulent result, what have you gained? You have actually emboldened the criminals. The only problem we have in this country is fraudulent elections.
“On the day we have free and fair elections in Nigeria, 20 years after that, we would become a superpower nation. America is sustained Today because power lies with the people.”
Highlighting the link between flawed elections and Nigeria’s slow development, Okonkwo emphasized that democracy belongs to the people rather than any political party, including the ADC or APC. He, therefore, urged citizens to take an active role in defending and sustaining democratic governance.
Okonkwo called on citizens to collectively defend and sustain democratic governance in the country.