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Former presidential candidate Peter Obi on Monday said Nigeria must urgently reform its electoral process to ensure transparency and public trust, as he joined peaceful demonstrators at the National Assembly in Abuja.
Obi made the call while addressing those gathered to demand changes to the proposed amendment to the Electoral Act, particularly regarding the electronic transmission of election results.
Speaking to reporters during the protest, Obi said, “We are certain that we need to address our concerns about this country and the election. What we want is an electoral process that is transparent from beginning to finish.”
He said the proposed amendment should clearly spell out qualification requirements for candidates and ensure that such information is publicly available.
“Our demands about the amendment are simple. Let us have an amendment that allows, first, the qualification of people who want to contest the election. And that qualification must be advertised,” Obi added.
Obi stated that voters should be able to verify candidates’ educational claims, saying, “So if anybody says, ‘I went to this primary school, I went to this secondary school, I went to this university,’ people (the electorate) are supposed to know about that.”
He also noted the need for electronic transmission of results directly from polling units, stating, “Finally, the election must be transmitted electronically from the polling booth, direct. We don’t want any traffic points any longer. Let people watch it. That’s what is happening in South Africa. That’s happening in Ghana. That’s happening everywhere.”
The former Anambra State governor said Nigeria, often described as the “giant of Africa”, must live up to that reputation.
“The giants of Africa have refused to be giants in anything. We cannot continue to shame Africa. We now want the giants of Africa to be true giants of Africa,” he said.
According to Obi, this can only be achieved through transparency, noting that “the only way we can do it is to live a transparent, honest life starting from our election processes.”
Obi also warned against repeated failures in the electoral process, adding, “We have suffered the danger. That’s what we have suffered before. We don’t want any glitches again. Glitch is finished. We want things to come back to normal.”
The protest followed the Senate’s rejection of the electronic transmission of election results, a claim lawmakers have since sought to clarify.
Protesters displayed placards bearing messages such as “Take Legislative Action on Electoral Act Amendment,” “Make Electronic Transmission of Election Results Mandatory”, and “Defend Democracy.”
Those present included members of civil society organisations, human rights activists, pressure groups, and representatives of opposition political parties.
