SDP demands real-time electronic transmission of poll results
By Laraba MUREY
The Social Democratic Party, SDP, has demanded the real-time transmission of election results, stating it is in the interest of transparency, accountability, and for the collective will of the Nigerians to count during elections.
National Publicity Secretary of the party, Araba Aiyenigba, in a statement in Abuja on Friday expressed deep concern over what it described as deliberate and unpatriotic resistance by the leadership of the 10th Senate to meaningful electoral reforms.
The party frowned at the refusal to provide a clear legislative mandate for the real-time electronic transmission of election results, an issue, he said, Nigerians have spoken about with one voice.
“Across the country, citizens have made their position unmistakably clear. During the extensive nationwide public hearings conducted by the Senate in 2025 on the Electoral Act (Repeal and Enactment) Bill 2026, Nigerians demanded reforms that would move the nation beyond the credibility challenges that marred the 2023 general elections.
“Their message was simple but powerful: Nigeria’s democracy must be strengthened through modern, transparent, and technology-driven electoral processes,” the statement states.
The SDP emphasized that tools such as the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, BVAS, and the INEC Result Viewing Portal, IReV, are no longer optional innovations but essential safeguards.
“These systems,” the party argued, “significantly reduce human error and block avenues for manipulation that often occur during the manual movement of results by anti-democratic actors.”
According to the party, it is increasingly evident that many patriotic senators, the Nigerian electorate, and even the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, are aligned in their desire to move the country forward.
The SDP commended the new leadership of INEC for its positive disposition toward integrity-driven reforms anchored on transparency and credible elections.
However, the party warned that a small, self-serving cabal within the Senate leadership must not be allowed to hold Nigeria’s democracy hostage.
The SDP also reaffirmed its confidence in INEC, noting that the commission has already demonstrated the infrastructure, technical capacity, and patriotic will to transmit election results electronically in real time—if only it is allowed to operate without political encumbrances.
The party called on citizens, civil society organizations, and all democrats to rise in defense of the country’s democracy.
