Atiku also stressed the need to discourage attempts to sabotage technology and manipulate results during elections
By Kehinde Okeowo
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) 2023 presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar has called on Nigeria’s legislative arm to urgently review the country’s electoral laws and processes in order to enhance efficiency, transparency, and credibility.
He gave the advice in a statement on Monday, where he cited the recently conducted general elections in Ghana as a model for necessary amendments that would eliminate ambiguities in the electoral process and align them with global best practices.
He further emphasised that the National Assembly should revise the laws to empower the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), in delivering elections that are transparent, quick, and credible.
He noted that the swift declaration of results in Ghana, where contestants received results by Sunday morning after a Saturday election, underscores the importance of incorporating efficient technology into the electoral process.
Speaking via the statement, Atiku said, “The recently concluded presidential election in Ghana, our next-door neighbour, presents a wake-up call to INEC and the National Assembly on the need to review our electoral process and make it more efficient, transparent, credible and in line with best practices across the world. There is a need for INEC to embrace technology and make it help the process.”
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The former Vice President added that any practices that allow manual conduct of elections or hinder real-time result upload on the IREV system must be eradicated, proposing that elections failing to meet these technological standards should be declared null and void.
“Any excuse that still allows some officials to conduct elections manually or gives the impression that results cannot be uploaded in real-time on the IREV should be eliminated. Any election that does not meet the technology threshold should be nullified,” he added.
He went on to stress the need to discourage attempts to sabotage technology and manipulate results.
Atiku had earlier stated that the power to decide who will occupy the office of President of Nigeria in 2027 ultimately rests with the Nigerian people.
The PDP chieftain was responding to a comment made by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator George Akume, who claimed that President Bola Tinubu’s second term in office for 2027 was already guaranteed.
Akume had argued that for equity and fairness, it was only right for Tinubu, a southerner, to complete a second term, as the north had already had its fair share of leadership.
Responding, Atiku’s Special Adviser (Media), Paul Ibe, via a post on X (formerly Twitter) asked, “Where, then, does true equity and fairness reside?”