Obi Leads Protest to National Assembly Over Electoral Reform

Former Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, on Monday led supporters and civil society groups to the National Assembly, demanding the inclusion of real-time electronic transmission of election results in the ongoing amendment of the Electoral Act 2022.

Obi insisted that Nigerians would no longer tolerate technical glitches in future elections, stressing that results must be transmitted directly from polling units to the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV) to guarantee transparency.

The protest, which attracted activists and supporters, comes amid renewed debates at the National Assembly over electoral reforms ahead of the next general election. Notably, former Vice President and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, was absent from the protest.

Recalling the controversies surrounding the 2023 presidential election, Obi said lapses in result transmission weakened public trust in the electoral process and must not be allowed to recur.

According to him, the National Assembly has a responsibility to strengthen the Electoral Act to ensure credible, free, and fair elections.

“What we want is an electoral process that is transparent from beginning to end. There must be an amendment that allows for free and credible elections,” Obi said.

He added that Nigeria, as Africa’s largest democracy, must fully embrace technology to meet global standards and restore confidence in its electoral system.