Election results should be transmitted electronically, according to Reno Omokri, ambassador-designate and political analyst. However, he cautioned against insisting on real-time transmission, calling it impractical given Nigeria’s current infrastructure.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Wednesday, Omokri stated that he is in favor of measures that increase election transparency, but he further contended that detractors should have realistic expectations.
“If you would like the results to be transmitted electronically, I am in favor of that. Nobody who will oppose it, in my opinion, is patriotic,” Omokri remarked.
Nigeria’s size and unequal network coverage, he insisted, were significant barriers to implementing a real-time component throughout all voting stations in the nation.
He stated, “The problem is that these individuals are requesting impractical policies for the electronic transmission of results in real time.”
Omokri used the recent elections in South Africa as a similar illustration.
“What happened in 2023 in Nigeria is exactly what happened in South Africa,” he remarked. In Nigeria, election results are available online. However, due to Nigeria’s size, there are some locations where coverage is unavailable.
In the midst of the ongoing controversy surrounding the recently passed Senate Electoral Act (Repeal and Reenactment) Amendment Bill 2026, he made these remarks.
Legislators faced criticism for eliminating the word “real-time” from the section on results transmission via electronic means. Since then, protesters accused senators of trying to undermine election openness have held rallies at the National Assembly, including opposition leaders and civil society organizations.
The Senate leadership stressed that electronic transmission is still covered by the statute, although detractors maintain that the term “real-time” is required to avoid collusion during the collation process.
