Senator representing Ebonyi North Senatorial District, Onyekachi Nwaebonyi, has said the latest amendment to the Electoral Act by the National Assembly has effectively closed the loopholes that previously enabled electoral manipulation.<\/p>\n
Speaking on ARISE Television on Wednesday, Nwaebonyi said the new legal framework makes electronic transmission of election results mandatory, stressing that the revised law now carries greater force than existing guidelines issued by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).<\/p>\n
Leading with the Senate\u2019s position on the amendment, the lawmaker said, \u201cnobody can rig election in Nigeria\u201d under the new arrangement.<\/p>\n
According to him, the key distinction between the 2022 Electoral Act and the latest amendment lies in how electronic transmission of results is now provided for in the law itself.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe difference between the Electoral Act of 2022 and what we are doing now, and which will make the decision of the court different from what happened in INEC versus Atiku, which is a very popular case, as far as this electronic transmission of votes is concerned, is that this time, the National Assembly have inserted it in our law,\u201d the lawmaker said.<\/p>\n
He explained that the language of the amendment makes the provision compulsory.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd the word there is \u2018shall\u2019, not \u2018may\u2019. That is the difference,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Nwaebonyi further argued that the new Electoral Act would override any conflicting operational guidelines issued by INEC, including those relating to the use of the Result Viewing Portal (IREV).<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd moreover, the Electoral Act overrides the INEC guideline. If there is conflict between the guideline and the Act, the Act is an Act of the parliament. The guideline is a guideline of the agency. So the Electoral Act supersedes the guideline,\u201d the senator said.<\/p>\n
The Ebonyi lawmaker maintained that the amendment would fundamentally change the legal context in which future election disputes are determined, particularly in relation to electronic transmission of results.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo with what we have done now, nobody can rig election in Nigeria,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He, however, noted that the success of the reform would depend on the vigilance of political actors and stakeholders.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll that is required is for all eyes to be on the ball by all political players,\u201d the senator added.<\/p>\n
The Senate had on Tuesday reconvened in an emergency session following public outcry over earlier changes to the Electoral Act, especially provisions on the transmission of election results and the status of INEC\u2019s IREV portal.<\/p>\n
Vanguard News
\nThe post Electoral Act: With new amendment, nobody can rig election again \u2013 Sen Nwaebonyi appeared first on Vanguard News.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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