Justice Omoley-Ajileue
Fresh concerns have emerged over the robustness of Nigeria’s legal framework for the 2027 general elections, following warnings that recent amendments to the Electoral Act could weaken safeguards introduced to protect the integrity of election results.
The concerns were raised by retired High Court judge and electronic evidence expert, Justice Alabama Omolaye-Ajileye, who argued that while the amended law strengthens the use of technology for voter accreditation, it leaves significant gaps in the transmission and collation of election results.
Speaking in Abuja at the public presentation of his books, Electronic Evidence (Second Edition) and Compendium of Cases on Electronic Evidence, Volume II (2020–2025), the retired jurist said the legislation contains provisions that could undermine the transparency electronic reforms were intended to achieve.
According to him, the amended Electoral Act makes the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) mandatory for voter accreditation but permits election officials to revert to manual procedures whenever electronic transmission of results fails.
He argued that while recognising technological limitations is necessary, the law fails to prescribe strict conditions for abandoning electronic transmission.
“The weakness of the amendment is not that it recognises the possibility of technological failure,” he said. “The defect lies in making manual recording or manual collation the automatic fallback without imposing strict safeguards.”
Justice Omolaye-Ajileye warned that the absence of clearly defined procedures could leave room for abuse, particularly in politically sensitive polling units where claims of technical failure may become contentious.
He questioned who should determine that electronic transmission has genuinely failed, how many attempts should be made before manual collation is allowed, and what documentary or digital evidence should be required before election officials abandon electronic transmission.
According to him, the legislation does not adequately address these issues, creating legal ambiguities that could erode public confidence in election outcomes.
To strengthen the process, he proposed a number of safeguards, including compulsory incident reports by presiding officers, multiple electronically logged transmission attempts, certification of any technical failure by party agents and security personnel, preservation of results on secure offline devices, and mandatory transmission from the nearest location with network connectivity before manual collation is permitted.
He also urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to publicly disclose every instance of failed electronic transmission, including the reasons, technical reports and digital logs associated with each incident.
Without such measures, he warned, the amendment risks providing “statutory cover to the very opacity that electronic transmission was introduced to eliminate.”
The retired judge’s intervention revives debates that dominated legislative consideration of the Electoral Act amendment, during which lawmakers disagreed over whether electronic transmission of results should be mandatory or whether INEC should retain discretion where technological challenges arise.
While supporters of mandatory electronic transmission argued that it would minimise opportunities for result manipulation during collation, others maintained that poor network coverage in parts of the country made an absolute requirement impracticable.
The eventual amendment retained electronic transmission while allowing manual alternatives where technical failures occur—a compromise that Justice Omolaye-Ajileye believes requires stronger legal and operational safeguards.
His remarks come as political activities gradually gather momentum ahead of the 2027 general elections and as election stakeholders continue to advocate reforms aimed at strengthening public confidence in the electoral process.
The intervention is expected to renew calls for either further amendments to the Electoral Act or more detailed operational guidelines from INEC to ensure that manual fallback provisions are not exploited to compromise the credibility of election results.