Approve e-transmission of election results to avoid crisis, Goodluck Jonathan tells National Assembly.

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Former President of Nigeria, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has advised the National Assembly to approve electronic transmission of election results to improve transparency and avoid crisis.

Speaking at the inaugural ceremony of the National Defence College (NDC), in Abuja, he urged the Nigerian lawmakers to reconsider the deployment of electronic transmission for the sake of transparency and avoidance of violence.

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“Where there is no confidence in the electoral umpire, people resort to crisis. But unfortunately, sometimes when the result comes out, the damage would have been done,” the former president said.

“I urge the National Assembly (NASS) while looking at the law, they should allow the use of electronic means of transmitting results for the sake of transparency as well as avoiding electoral crisis,“ he added.

This came after the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) accused the National Assembly of being the only blockade towards achieving electronic transmission of election results in the country.

According to Peoples Gazette, the commission said it would electronically transmit elections results “if the choice was up to INEC”, reiterating that it has over the years put adequate structures for such in place across Nigeria.

In July, INEC disclosed its readiness to switch to electronic transmission of results said the commission is capable.

The commission spokesperson, Festus Okoye also said INEC has since 2018 proven to the National Assembly its capacity to electronically transmit election results across all parts of Nigeria, including from remote areas.

But after months of consideration about whether or not the country should eliminate a crucial channel of election rigging and allow electronic transmission of results, lawmakers of the ruling All Progressives Congress exclusively rejected the proposal in the Senate.

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The APC senators said there was no capacity for INEC to transmit results via electronic channels throughout the country, leaving the final decision to the NCC. The move was rejected by opposition PDP senators, who voted entirely in support of the electronic transmission of results as a needed improvement to a process long marred by irregularities.

Shortly after the rejection at the senate, APC lawmakers in the House also followed their Senate counterparts to kick against the deployment of electronic transmission, leading PDP lawmakers to stage a walkout of the parliament session in anger.