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Result transmission: NLC joins protest, threatens boycott of 2027 polls
Nothing short of immediate enthronement of the provision mandating the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), to upload election results into the INEC Result Viewing Portals (IReV), in the new Nigerian electoral law, currently in the works at the National Assembly, will satisfy the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC).
Refusal to do so, would leave the body without other option than calling Nigerian workers out into the streets to protest the new position of the Nigerian Senate, which seems to be dilly-dallying on the issue, Joe Ajaero, President of the NLC, said on Sunday, in a statement.
The Senate, had on Thursday, last week, passed the Electoral Act 2022 (Repeal and Re-enactment) Amendment Bill 2026 through its third reading, rejecting a proposed amendment to Clause 60(3) that would have made the electronic transmission of election results mandatory.
Amid the outrage generated among Nigerians and the nebulous nature of the interpretations given to the action of the Senate, the NLC, said it was seeking clarity on the matter, urging it to clear what it described as confusion and contradictory positions.
Accusing the upper legislative chamber of the NASS of undermining public confidence in Nigeria’s electoral process by failing to clearly state whether electronic transmission of results would be mandatory, the NLC, maintained that it would not stand by and watch things continue to go awry.
Ajaero, said in the statement: “The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) expresses deep concern over the confusion and contradictory narratives emerging from the Senate regarding the amendment to the 2022 Electoral Act, particularly on electronic transmission of results. “Nigerians deserve a transparent system where votes are not only counted but seen to be counted. Public records suggest the proposed amendment to mandate the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to transmit results electronically in real-time was not adopted, with the existing discretionary provision retained.
“This has generated nationwide apprehension, and subsequent explanations have only added to the confusion,” the NLC said, warning that “legislative ambiguity” at a critical period following the 2023 general elections could institutionalise doubt within the electoral system.
“The National Assembly leadership must also ensure the harmonisation process produces a final bill with crystal-clear provisions; any ambiguity in the transmission and collation of results is a disservice to our democracy.
“Failure to add electronic transmission in real-time will lead to mass action before, during and after the election or total boycott of the election. Nigerian workers and citizens are watching closely.
“Our nation must choose the path of clarity and integrity. We need
to avoid the same confusion that trailed the new Tax Acts. The time for honest, people-focused legislation is now.”
The rejected provision sought to compel presiding officers of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to transmit results electronically from polling units to the IReV portal in real time after the prescribed result forms had been duly signed and stamped.
Instead, the Senate retained the existing provision of the Electoral Act, which allows results to be transferred “in a manner as prescribed by the Commission,” thereby preserving INEC’s discretion on transmission and collation.
The Senate’s decision triggered public outrage and drew criticism from opposition parties and civil society groups, who argue that reliance on manual collation increases the risk of manipulation ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The position also differs from that of the House of Representatives, which had earlier approved mandatory electronic transmission, making it necessary for a conference committee to harmonise both versions of the bill before transmission to the President for assent.
The echoes of the drums rolled out to celebrate the rescue of the 44 teachers and students, kidnapped from some schools in Oyo State, after 56 days in the bush, would surely be disrupted abruptly, with the divergent echoes of a fresh abduction, this time coming from Kogi State.
Reports indicate that the gunmen, struck on Tuesday at the Government Secondary School, Odo-Ekina, in Dekina Local Government Area of the state, abducting four students, the school principal and a National Examinations Council (NECO) ad hoc staff member.
Authorities of the Kogi State Police Command, who immediately unleashed their operatives in hot pursuit of the abductors, said the attack occurred at about 5:25 p.m. while the students were writing their NECO examination.
Saliu Oyiza Afusat, an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) and spokesman of the command, said a combined team of police personnel and other security agencies has launched a search-and-rescue operation following the incident.
Informing that one of the students was actually rescued immediately, she said efforts were ongoing to secure the release of the remaining victims and apprehend the attackers, adding that Naziru Bello Kankarofi, the state Commissioner of Police, alongside the Brigade Commander and the State Security Adviser to the Governor, Commodore Jerry Omodara (Rtd), were already on the way to the scene for an on-the-spot assessment.
Oil prices are expected to go down now with the announcement of Donald Trump, US President that he will no longer impose a 20 percent “safe passage” fee on ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz.
The POTUS, hinged his reversal of the decision on the intervention from some Gulf countries, who pleaded with him not to toe the line due to the massive economic impact the decision would make on the region.
Indeed, oil prices had shot up immediately Trump announced the new levy on Monday while declaring the US ‘the guardians of the Hormuz strait,’ a measure which he said was to pay for the cost of guarding the volatile area in order keep supply of oil flowing.
Reports said that Gulf allies of the US worked frantically to get Trump on the phone in time to talk him out of the idea altogether, while a flurry of appeals came from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Qatar.
In response, the POTUS, posting on his Truth Social platform, wrote: “Based on highly productive conversations with Middle East leadership, I have decided to replace the 20% United States Reimbursement Fee with Trade and Investment Deals that the various Gulf States will be making into the United States.”
Trump, who said the investments would be “MASSIVE but, at the same time, extraordinarily good for them, and their future,” added that the deals would see factories, plants, and equipment pour into the US at “Historic levels.”
The Gulf nations have committed to invest trillions of dollars in the US, though it remains unclear how much of that they will actually spend over the next several years.
Meanwhile, the US continues to bomb Iran in what appears to be a resumption of active conflict between both countries, despite an ongoing roadmap to end the conflict.
Reports say operatives of the Osun State Police Command, and those of the Department of State Services (DSS) had tracking the trail of Adeniyi Adeyemi, controversial Director General of the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), for weeks, before he was eventually pulled out of his hole on Tuesday.
However, the duo, were said to have pulled back after failing to track him through his mobile phones, which he had reportedly switched off for about two days, making it difficult to locate him, leaving the stage for the members of the Police Intelligence Response Team (PI-RT) led by Moses Lohor, a Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP).
Lohor, said to have previously served as the Commander of the Anti-Kidnapping Squad of Osun State, and reported to have been involved in high-profile security operations and controversies, after taken over fielded his men to pick up signals from their well-oiled signal networks.
Regarded by many Osun residents as one of the key security officers who contributed significantly to the peace and stability enjoyed in Ilesa and other parts of the state during his tenure, he was said to have relied on his contacts before his transfer out of the state, said to have raised concerns from the public about the security situation he would be leaving behind.
His exit from the state was said to be hinged on an incident in 2024, in which he allegedly shot one Iyanda Alowonle, then Chairman of Osun State Motor Transport System, in the stomach at the police station in the state prompting an order for his arrest by then Inspector General of Police (IGP).
His effort was said to have paid off when he successfully tracked down the controversial PFIPC, boss, who was seen on Tuesday evening, in a shot video on social media undergoing interrogation, and eventually handed him over to Ibrahim Gotan, Commissioner of Police in the state.
The PUNCH quoted one of the sources as saying: “The arrest (of Adeyemi) took place on Tuesday morning by the IRT squad, who immediately moved him to Abuja. After he was arrested, he was taken to Ibadan and from there to Abuja.”
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