Former transport minister Rotimi Amaechi rallied Monday with demonstrators outside the National Assembly, demanding lawmakers restore mandatory real-time electronic transmission of election results in pending reforms, just hours before a crisis session on the issue.
The protest, joined by ex-presidential candidate Peter Obi and civil society activists, targeted the Senate’s recent passage of the Electoral Act, 2022 (Repeal & Enactment) Bill, 2026, which omitted the key provision despite widespread calls for enhanced voting integrity.
Amaechi, a one-time ally of the ruling All Progressives Congress, lambasted the current administration’s governance. “Life is worse now than the time I was with the APC during Buhari’s time,” he told reporters. “I know that they are stealing, look at the $16 billion dollars coastal road contract without due process.”
Skeptical of President Bola Tinubu’s prospects for a second term in 2027, Amaechi added: “Let’s wait and see. It is the will of the people. How will he win?”
The outcry stems from the upper chamber’s decision last week to excise the electronic upload clause, which opposition figures argue would curb rigging and bolster trust in the Independent National Electoral Commission. Protesters waved placards urging a reversal, chanting for accountability.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio has summoned an emergency plenary for Tuesday to revisit the bill, amid mounting pressure from rights groups and political watchers who warn that its absence could perpetuate disputes like those plaguing the 2023 polls.
Obi, echoing the crowd’s frustration, has previously decried “glitches” in past transmissions as deliberate sabotage. The duo’s appearance underscores deepening rifts within Nigeria’s political elite over democratic safeguards.
