Former Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, on Monday joined hundreds of protesters who converged on the National Assembly Complex, Abuja, to oppose the Senate’s decision to water down provisions on the electronic transmission of election results in the Electoral Act Amendment Bill.
The protest, tagged “Occupy the National Assembly,” was organised by members of the Obidient Movement alongside pro-democracy activists, who accused lawmakers of attempting to weaken electoral safeguards ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The demonstration followed the Senate’s passage of the Electoral Act 2022 (Repeal and Re-enactment) Amendment Bill, 2026, which removed the phrase “real-time” from clauses relating to the electronic transmission of results. Critics argue that the change creates loopholes for manipulation during collation.
Although the Senate has maintained that electronic transmission was not entirely discarded, protesters insisted that the absence of real-time transmission undermines transparency and opens the door to post-election interference.
Chanting protest songs and displaying placards with messages such as “Our votes must count,” “No to electoral robbery,” and “Protect democracy now,” the demonstrators marched from the Federal Secretariat toward the National Assembly.
Their advance was halted by a heavy security presence comprising officers of the Nigeria Police Force, Nigerian Army, and Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, who barricaded the main entrance, forcing the protesters to continue the demonstration outside the complex.
Speaking to journalists at the scene, Obi warned against what he described as a gradual erosion of democratic gains, stressing that credible elections are fundamental to Nigeria’s stability and development. “We must dismantle this criminality and prove that we are now a nation that shows light in Africa,” he said.
Obi’s presence further energised the protesters, many of whom see him as a symbol of the youth-driven political mobilisation that emerged during the 2023 general elections.
Yunusa Tanko, National Coordinator of the Obidient Movement Worldwide, said the protest would continue until lawmakers clearly reinstate real-time electronic transmission in the amended law. “If there is no electronic transmission of results, there will be no election. Our elections must be credible,” Tanko said.
He noted that past elections were often compromised during manual collation, a problem electronic transmission was meant to address following reforms after the 2011 and 2015 elections.
Nigeria’s push for electoral reform intensified after the widely criticised 2007 general elections, regarded as one of the most flawed in the country’s history. Subsequent innovations, including card readers in 2015 and the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) in 2022, were hailed as milestones for transparency, despite ongoing challenges.
Civil society organisations have consistently argued that electronic transmission would reduce human interference and restore public confidence in the electoral process.
Addressing the crowd, activist Randy Peters accused political leaders of betraying democratic ideals and vowed that the protests would persist. “Tomorrow, we will be back here until the Senate does the right thing. The June 12 struggle was about free and fair elections,” he said.
Referencing the June 12, 1993 election, widely regarded as Nigeria’s freest and fairest, Peters questioned why elected officials would resist reforms aimed at safeguarding credible polls. “In 2027, our votes must count. That is the most important thing,” he said.
