Mustapha Lecky,
A former National Commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Mustapha Lecky, has said Nigeria is not yet equipped, legally or technologically, for real-time electronic transmission of election results.
Lecky made the remark on Friday while speaking as a guest on Channels Television’s Politics Today, amid growing public debate over the Senate’s decision not to mandate electronic transmission of results in the proposed Electoral Act amendment.
The Senate had faced criticism after declining to amend Section 60 of the Electoral Act to compel INEC officials to upload polling unit results directly to the commission’s Result Viewing Portal in real time.
Reacting to the controversy, Lecky argued that the push for instant transmission was misplaced, noting that Nigeria still operates a manual voting system rather than electronic voting.
According to him, it is illogical to demand real-time electronic uploads when ballots are still cast and counted manually at polling units.
He explained that results must first be physically counted in the presence of party agents and observers before they are documented on official forms, particularly the EC8A result sheet, which he described as central to the electoral process.
Lecky maintained that Nigeria is far from adopting full electronic voting and should not rush into real-time digital transmission without the necessary legal backing and technological infrastructure.
He also pointed to persistent gaps in telecommunications coverage across many polling areas, warning that such limitations could undermine any attempt at nationwide electronic uploads.
Beyond infrastructure concerns, the former commissioner cautioned that premature adoption of real-time transmission could expose the electoral process to cyber threats in a country still strengthening its digital systems.
He advised that, rather than pursue instant uploads, INEC should focus on improving and fully optimising existing tools such as the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System and the Result Viewing Portal to ensure transparency and reliability.
Lecky concluded that strengthening current mechanisms would deliver more credible outcomes than introducing reforms the country is not yet prepared to sustain.
