Former Minister of Education and Founder of FixPolitics Initiative and the School of Politics, Policy and Governance (SPPG), Dr. Obiageli “Oby” Ezekwesili, has called on the Nigerian Senate to make real-time electronic transmission of election results from all polling units to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Results Viewing (IReV) portal mandatory.
In a video message addressed to citizens, Ezekwesili described transparency as the bedrock of democracy, warning that without compulsory real-time upload of polling unit results, the integrity of elections — and by extension the people’s mandate — remains at risk.
“Democracy cannot thrive in opacity. Transparency is not optional; it is the foundation of credible elections and public trust,” she stated, insisting that election results agreed upon at polling units must be uploaded immediately to INEC’s IReV portal to prevent manipulation during collation.
Explaining the process, she said that once votes are counted and recorded on official result sheets at polling units, the figures should be electronically transmitted in real time to the IReV portal, where they become publicly accessible. According to her, such a system would eliminate the long-standing practice of altering results during collation.
“When the votes counted at a polling unit are uploaded instantly and made visible to everyone, anywhere in the world, it becomes significantly harder to tamper with them,” she argued.
Ezekwesili accused members of the Senate of resisting the proposal in order to preserve avenues for electoral malpractice. She contrasted the Senate’s stance with that of the House of Representatives, which she said had supported citizens’ demand for mandatory real-time electronic transmission without conditions.
She maintained that making the provision mandatory is critical to ensuring enforceability and safeguarding electoral integrity.
Citing precedent, Ezekwesili recalled that electronic transmission of results was successfully deployed during the 2021 Anambra governorship election and subsequently in the 2022 Ekiti and Osun elections. She noted that INEC recorded an average success rate of about 98 percent in transmitting results electronically during those polls.
“What citizens are demanding is not new. It has been tested and proven to work,” she said, urging Nigerians not to be misled by arguments against the feasibility of the system.
The former minister framed the issue as a defining moment for Nigeria’s democracy, calling on lawmakers to “rise above personal interests and put Nigeria first” by protecting the sanctity of the vote.
She also charged citizens to remain vigilant and continue to demand accountability from their elected representatives.
Her message, she said, is simple and uncompromising: “Count right. Post it real time.”
