Former Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, has explained why he came with his first son to participate in the protest organised by civil society groups in the National Assembly complex Abuja over the Senate’s rejection of real-time electronic transmission of election results.
He told newsmen during the demonstration on Tuesday that he was on ground with his son to counter the widely-held notion that politicians will keep their loved ones in safe spaces while rallying children of the poor to protest.
The former minister of Transportation also explained that with his son being a medical doctor, his services will come handy should the protesters sustain any injury.
He maintained that leaders ought to be at the forefront of major protests and should be willing to involve their families.
In his words, “I believe that there should be more Nigerians out here to protest. I have always told them that when there is a protest, all of us should come out.
“There are those who say that we politicians want protests and our children are overseas. Here is my first son. I brought him to join the protest as my first son. He is a medical doctor. His job is that if there is injury, to treat the injured ones. If they want people to protest, we are here. But we need to mobilise much much more than this.”
Amaechi, who is now of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), said his former party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) was opposed to real-time transmission of election results because it fears losing elections.
“I believe that the opposition parties should come out — PDP, ADC, everybody should be out — to protest against the attempt of one party,” said the politician.
TopSociety recalls that the Senate on February 4, passed the Electoral Act amendment bill after a five-hour clause-by-clause deliberation.
One of the amendments reduced the timeline for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to publish a notice of election from 360 days to 180 days.
The upper legislative chambers also ruled out real-time transmission of election results and retained the provision for electronic transfer of results as provided for in the 2022 Electoral Act.
The resolution immediately sparked outrage across social media platforms, as social crusaders immediately started mobilising to protest against the senators’ action.
At the centre of the controversy is clause 60(3) of the amendment bill which reads: “The presiding officer shall electronically transmit the results from each polling unit to the IREV portal in real time, and such transmission shall be done after the prescribed Form EC8A has been signed and stamped by the presiding officer and/or countersigned by the candidates or polling unit agents, where available at the polling unit.”
The amendment intends to make electronic transmission compulsory, ensure it is in real time, and link the same directly to IReV. But the Senate rejected the proposal and instead adopted section 60(5) of the existing Electoral Act 2022, which mandates the presiding officer to transfer the results, including the total number of accredited voters and the results of the ballot, “in a manner as prescribed by the commission”.
