A former National Commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mustapha Lecky, has stated that Nigeria is not yet in a position to implement real-time electronic transmission of election results, stressing that the country remains far from adopting full electronic voting.
Lecky made the remarks during an appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Friday, where he addressed the ongoing debate surrounding electronic result transmission and electoral reforms.
His comments come amid public backlash against the Senate following its decision not to amend Section 60 of the Electoral Act to make electronic transmission of results from polling units to INEC’s Result Viewing Portal mandatory.
According to Lecky, discussions about instantaneous electronic transmission are misplaced because Nigeria still conducts elections manually using paper ballots rather than electronic voting systems.
“It doesn’t really make sense to be talking about instantaneous transmission of results live from polling units when we are not doing electronic voting anywhere. We are still very far from that,” he said.
He explained that election results in Nigeria must first be manually counted in the presence of voters and party agents before being recorded on the official EC8A result sheet, which remains the most critical election document at the polling unit.
“People vote with paper ballots, and the votes must be counted openly one after the other before the results are entered into the EC8A form and signed by party agents. That process cannot be bypassed,” Lecky noted.
The former INEC commissioner also argued that Nigeria currently lacks the technical infrastructure required for nationwide real-time electronic transmission, pointing to inconsistent mobile network coverage across many polling locations, particularly in remote areas.
“For electronic transmission, we are not ready. We are not technically ready,” he stated.
Lecky further warned that rushing into instant electronic transmission without strong digital infrastructure could expose Nigeria’s electoral process to cyber threats and undermine election credibility.
He urged INEC to focus on strengthening and perfecting existing technologies, including the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and the Result Viewing Portal (IReV), rather than pushing for reforms that the country may not yet be equipped to sustain.
“What we need to do is rely on what we currently have, improve it, and ensure it works perfectly. Once the system becomes fully reliable, further advancements can follow,” he added.