Mike Igini presents turnover data showing 77% of current senators may not return, argues softening e-transmission rules is political suicide
Former Independent National Electoral Commission Resident Electoral Commissioner Mike Igini has delivered a blunt message to members of the National Assembly: if you want to keep your seats in 2027, make real-time electronic transmission of results mandatory—and stop protecting loopholes that will ultimately consume you.
In a sweeping statement titled "Proviso to Real-Time E-Transmission of Polling Unit Results: Why a Majority of Legislators May Not Return in 2027," Igini warned that lawmakers who fail to guarantee direct, immediate upload of polling unit results to INEC's Result Viewing Portal (IReV) are effectively signing their own political death warrants.
A Lesson from History
Igini urged federal lawmakers to study the fate of their predecessors, arguing that previous Assemblies paid the price for leaving electoral vulnerabilities unaddressed.
"Those earlier Assemblies, for reasons of convenience and party loyalty, refused to address well-documented election rigging vulnerabilities in our electoral laws, like the very proviso now introduced by the Senate, to qualify direct electronic transmission," Igini stated .
The consequence, he said, was predictable: "Such lacunae were exploited to subvert polling-unit outcomes during their tenure by those who denied them re-election party tickets, rendering them victims of the very defects they declined to remedy."
According to Igini, lawmakers who lost the backing of powerful party figures found themselves unable to defend their mandates—even when they enjoyed genuine grassroots support .
'Network Concerns Are Excuses'
Igini dismissed arguments about poor network coverage, citing pre-2022 surveys by INEC and the Nigerian Communications Commission showing over 97% 2G and 3G coverage across Nigeria .
"That was what the commission used to carry out e-transmission of polling units' results to IReV successfully in real-time in over 105 off-cycle elections, including five governorship elections before the 2023 elections," he stated. "Network concerns are therefore largely excuses and completely specious."
He warned that the Senate's proviso—allowing manual transmission as a backup—"invites mischief, affording opportunities for collusion between influential actors, collation officials, and telecommunication providers to engineer deliberate network failures on election day" .
The Core Demand
"Nigerians have insistently demanded real-time electronic transmission from polling units to IReV, precisely to forestall post-polling alterations at ward or local government collation centres," Igini said. "Publicly viewable results serve as deterrence and would render such tampering manifest and actionable" .
He argued that the safeguard is needed most urgently by competent, independent lawmakers who deserve re-election but face hostile party machinery.
What's at Stake
The debate over electronic transmission has become the central flashpoint in ongoing Electoral Act amendment discussions ahead of 2027 . While the Senate has approved electronic transmission in principle, it stopped short of making it mandatory and rejected a provision for real-time upload .
Protesters led by opposition figures including Peter Obi have gathered at the National Assembly, demanding that lawmakers reverse course . Civil society groups warn that leaving transmission optional "keeps the same legal weakness that the courts identified" after 2023 .
The Bottom Line
Igini's message to lawmakers was stark: "Real-time electronic transmission is, therefore, not merely desirable; it is essential for the sustenance of our democracy and for deserving legislature members' political survival" .
For the 77% of current senators and 70% of representatives who may not return in 2027, the warning carries existential weight. The question is whether enough of them will listen before the doors close behind them.
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