By Ikugbadi Oluwasegun
The 2023 Labour Party, LP, presidential candidate, and 2027 ADC hopeful, Peter Obi, led a massive demonstration to the National Assembly Complex, Abuja.
Accompanied by prominent human rights activist, Aisha Yesufu, members of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), and the Obidient Movement, Obi arrived at the parliamentary entrance to the legislature, demanding the mandatory real-time electronic transmission of election results from polling units.
The protesters, including students and civil society groups, stormed the complex just as the lawmakers resumed deliberations on the contentious bill.
The atmosphere remained charged as demonstrators chanted solidarity songs, calling on the Senate to reverse its reported rejection of mandatory digital result uploads.
Addressing the crowd and security officials at the gates, Obi challenged the rationale behind the Senate’s hesitation to codify electronic transmission.
The controversy has generated national discourse, including heated debates; with the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, and other stakeholders, urging the National Assembly to remove “discretionary phrase” from the law that allows INEC to decide how results are moved.
Security was beefed up around the Three Arms Zone to prevent a breakdown of law and order.
A combined team of the Nigeria Police Force, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, and other paramilitary agencies, stationed patrol vans at strategic locations to maintain order.
Despite the presence of heavy security, the protest persisted but peaceful. However, it effectively obstructed traffic and official movement into the National Assembly complex for several hours.
As of the time of filing this report, no principal officer of the National Assembly had come out to address the protesters, who vowed to remain at the gates until their demands for a “statutory compulsion” of electronic results were acknowledged.
Not only that, all gates leading to the National Assembly had been shut to prevent the protesters from entering the National Assembly.
