Former INEC Official Opposes Real-Time Electronic Transmission of Election Results

A former National Commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Mustapha Lecky, has stated that Nigeria is not prepared for the mandatory real-time electronic transmission of election results, arguing that the country lacks both the legal framework and technical capacity for such a system.

Lecky made these remarks during an appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Friday, amidst public criticism of the Senate’s recent refusal to amend the Electoral Act to mandate live electronic transmission of results.

He described the ongoing debate as “misplaced,” noting that Nigeria still conducts elections manually rather than electronically. “It doesn’t make sense to me that we should be talking about instantaneous transmission of results live as it is happening from the polling area. We don’t do electronic voting anywhere,” Lecky said.

The former commissioner explained that electronic transmission would logically require electronic voting—a system Nigeria has yet to adopt. He emphasized that votes are still cast on paper ballots, manually counted in the open, and recorded on result sheets (Form EC8A) before any upload occurs.

Lecky further cautioned that Nigeria lacks the nationwide technical infrastructure, such as reliable mobile network coverage in all polling units, to support real-time electronic transmission. He warned that pushing ahead without proper safeguards could expose electoral data to cyber threats.

“For electronic transmission, we are not ready. We are not technically ready,” he stated, pointing out that even more established democracies proceed cautiously with digital election systems.

Instead, Lecky urged INEC to focus on perfecting its existing tools, such as the Result Viewing Portal and the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, to enhance transparency within the current voting framework.

His comments come days after the Senate declined to amend Section 60 of the Electoral Act, a decision that has sparked widespread debate about electoral integrity and technological reform ahead of future elections.