By Peter Duru, Makurdi

The Middle Belt Forum, MBF, has condemned the Senate’s decision to reject the proposal to make the electronic transmission of election results compulsory, describing the action as unfortunate and contrary to the wishes of Nigerians.

National President of MBF, Dr. Bitrus Pogu who was reacting to the development, accused members of the National Assembly of placing personal interests above national progress, warning that the decision undermines efforts to entrench credible and transparent elections in the country.

“That is unfortunate. They have not done well for Nigeria. They only think of themselves since they have the resources to manipulate whatever they want,” he said.

According to him, lawmakers who genuinely love the country would have supported real-time electronic transmission of results, which he described as a critical safeguard against electoral manipulation.

“If they really love Nigeria, they are supposed to ensure that all results are transmitted electronically in real time. It is an unfortunate development. Nigerians should cry out and force the National Assembly to reconsider and do the needful. We cannot continue doing the same wrong thing over and over again,” Pogu stated.

The MBF president recalled controversies that trailed the 2023 general elections, noting that even with electronic transmission provisions, irregularities were still recorded.

“In 2023, we saw how results were impacted through what they called glitches. And even at that, at least there was transmission; they just masked it,” he said.

He argued that making real-time electronic transmission mandatory would significantly reduce manipulation by allowing citizens to monitor the electoral process as voting progresses.

“As ballots are cast, results should be continually transmitted in real time to the server so that Nigerians can see how the results build up. That is what Nigerians want and the way forward for Nigeria,” Pogu added.

He stated that credible elections remain the foundation for producing genuine representatives of the people at all levels of governance, stressing “that is the only way for us to have true representatives of the people, whether at the state assembly, governorship, National Assembly or the presidency,” he said.

Describing the Senate’s decision as a major setback, Pogu lamented that it failed to reflect the aspirations of the Nigerian populace.

“It is a sad day for Nigeria. The decision they have made is not in tandem with the wishes, desires and aspirations of Nigerians,” he said.

He called on citizens to speak out and pressure their elected representatives to reverse the decision. “Nigerians must speak out. Tell your representatives to go back and reconsider. What the people want is for election results to be transmitted electronically in real time,” he said.

Pogu also urged a comprehensive review of the Electoral Act to eliminate any ambiguities that could be exploited by electoral authorities. “If there is any ambiguity left in the Electoral Law that the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, can exploit to manipulate the process, it should be removed,” he added.