BY TIMOTHY AGBOR, OSOGBO
President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, has advanced reasons to justify the position taken by the Senate on the electronic transmission of election results.
The Senate on Thursday, while considering the Electoral Act 2010 Amendment Bill, voted that “the Commission (INEC) might consider electronic transmission of results, provided the national coverage was adjudged to be adequate and secure by the National Communications Commission and approved by the National Assembly.”
Lawan explained that the Upper Chamber voted the way it did in defence of about half of the Nigerian voters whose votes might not be counted with immediate deployment or application of electronic transmission of election results.
The Senate President spoke to journalists at the weekend while on a constituency visit to his Yobe North Senatorial District.
Asked to comment on the passage of the Electoral Act 2010 Amendment Bill, Lawan said, “I’m happy that we have been able to pass the amendment even though some people are complaining of what we have passed in the Senate and probably what the House of Representatives has also passed.
“When the majority of Senators voted against immediate application or deployment of electronic transmission of results from the polling units, to the ward, to the local government, states and federal, they didn’t say they do not believe in electronic transmission (of election results).
“All of us in the Senate, 109 of us, believe that at one point, our electoral process must deploy electronic transmission so that it eases and enhances the electoral process and gives it more credibility and integrity.
“But you see, when you have not reached that stage where you could deploy the electronic transmission from every part of the country, then you have to be very careful. And no matter what anybody may say, you cannot have about 50 per cent of Nigerian voters not participating or not getting their votes counted in elections and say it doesn’t matter, that we have to start the electronic transmission.
“We know the evils of not transmitting results electronically but compare the evils of electronically transmitting just half of the electoral votes from Nigerians and say you have elected a President with 50 per cent only.
“And others have voted but the results or their votes could not be electronically transmitted. This is disenfranchising Nigerians and we are not going to support this kind of thing because, essentially, we are supposed to be fair to every part of Nigeria and when we voted, every part of Nigeria voted for and against (the amendment).
“What I mean here is that you have Senators from the northern part of Nigeria who voted for electronic transmission. Maybe that is their belief or their environment is ready for electronic transmission. And you have Senators from southern part of Nigeria who voted against immediate deployment of electronic transmission but they support that the electronic transmission of results should be allowed after certain conditions are met and the conditions are simple: “The National Communication Commission(NCC) had provided the technical information that only NCC could give – that only about 50 percent of the Nigerian environment, the polling units, in the country could possibly have their results electronically transmitted.
“So, what happens to the other 50 per cent? So, we believe that all of us in the Senate were aiming at the same target but chose to go through different routes and that is why in my concluded remarks in the Senate after the debate and voting, I said there was no victor, no vanquished because we all meant well.”
“And for those Nigerians who still feel that the electronic transmission should have just been allowed to take effect, I said well, this is how democracy works,” he added.
