Lawyer and public affairs analyst, Maxwell Opara, has warned that Nigeria’s 2027 general elections risk becoming a “selection, not election” following the Senate’s rejection of proposed amendments to make electronic transmission of results mandatory.
Speaking during an interview on ARISE NEWS on Thursday, Opara criticised lawmakers for voting down the amendment, insisting that the decision undermines public confidence in the electoral process.
According to him, Nigerians had demanded changes to the Electoral Act after the 2023 elections to remove INEC’s discretion on result transmission.
He said, “Nigerians now started calling for amendment of the Electoral Act so that it will be mandatory… So that INEC will not have that discretionary option whether to transmit or not.”
Opara argued that the Senate’s action was deliberate, claiming lawmakers were “testing the waters” to see how far they could go without resistance from citizens.
He described the decision as an attempt to weaken voter participation, stating that many Nigerians were motivated to vote in 2023 based on assurances that results would be transmitted from polling units in real time.
“People came out, only for them to say that it is optional, especially that of the president,” he said, adding that such reversals discourage voters from participating in future elections.
The legal analyst warned that without mandatory transmission, opposition parties and voters would continue to distrust the system. “This is a pre-arrangement telling us that the 2027 election is done and dusted,” he stated.
Opara maintained that real-time transmission would allow voters to independently verify results and reduce post-election disputes.
He further described elections conducted without such safeguards as meaningless, saying, “This is going to be what we call ‘selection,’ not election.”
Opara called on Nigerians, civil society groups, and opposition parties to engage lawmakers and resist what he described as attempts to weaken electoral transparency ahead of 2027.
Triumph Ojo
About the Author
