A former National Electoral Commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Barr. Mike Igini, has warned that many members of the current National Assembly risk becoming victims of election manipulation if they fail to insist on exclusive electronic transmission of results.
In a statement issued on Sunday, Igini urged the National Assembly to discard the provision for manual transmission of results recently passed by the Senate, arguing that it creates loopholes capable of undermining credible elections.
He cautioned that lawmakers who ignore vulnerabilities in electoral laws often end up suffering the consequences.
“Those earlier Assemblies, for reasons of convenience and party loyalty, refused to address well-documented election rigging vulnerabilities in our electoral laws, like the very proviso now introduced by the Senate, to qualify direct electronic transmission.
“Such lacunae were exploited to subvert polling-unit outcomes during their tenure by those who denied them re-election party tickets, rendering them victims of the very defects they declined to remedy or introduce to the Act,” he said.
‘Institutional Self-Harm’
Igini described the current proposal as a form of “institutional self-harm” capable of weakening Nigeria’s democratic consolidation.
“This is an institutional self-harm that will undermine national democratic consolidation,” he stated.
According to him, statistical analyses of legislative turnover reveal an alarming pattern of attrition in both chambers of the National Assembly, which he attributed largely to weaknesses in the electoral process.
In the Senate, he noted that the Sixth Senate (2007–2011) returned only 23 of 109 members, with 86 newly elected Senators, representing a turnover rate of 79 percent.
“The Seventh Senate (2011–2015) recorded 36 re-elections and 73 new entrants (67% turnover).
“The Eighth Senate (2015–2019) saw 39 returning Senators and 70 newcomers (64% turnover).
“The Ninth Senate (2019–2023) marginally improved with 45 re-elected and 64 newly elected members, yielding a 59% turnover rate.
“Alarmingly, the current Tenth Senate (2023–2027) has regressed sharply, with only 25 returning Senators and 84 new entrants—translating to a staggering 77% turnover.”
He said the House of Representatives has witnessed a similar destabilising trend.
“In the Sixth House (2007–2011), merely 80 of 360 members were re-elected, while 280 were newcomers (78% turnover).
“The Seventh House (2011–2015) recorded 100 re-elected members against 260 newly elected (72% turnover).
“The Eighth House (2015–2019) saw 110 returnees and 250 new legislators (69.4% turnover).
“The Ninth House (2019–2023) marked the lowest attrition in this period, with 151 re-elected and 209 newly elected members (57% turnover).
“However, the present Tenth House (2023–2027) has again deteriorated, returning only 109 members while ushering in 251 new legislators producing a 70% turnover rate.”
‘Chronic Instability’ and Weak Oversight
Igini argued that across electoral cycles, both Nigerians and legislators have been casualties of provisions that weaken electronic transmission safeguards.
“Their attrition rate has averaged well above 60–70%, with fewer than four in ten Senators and barely one-third of Representatives typically securing re-election,” he said.
He lamented that such “chronic instability” results in institutional amnesia, drains public resources through repeated induction and retraining, weakens legislative oversight, and disrupts continuity in law-making and executive accountability.
“The vulnerability stems fundamentally from manipulable polling units result during collation processes, where credible polling-units result evidence cannot be adduced to substantiate constituency support.
“Legislators, notwithstanding strong local backing for them, are reduced to supplicants rather than autonomous stakeholders, beholden to executive whims at federal and state levels.”
Igini stressed that real-time electronic transmission of results is not merely an option but a necessity for safeguarding democracy and protecting lawmakers who genuinely enjoy constituency support.
“Real-time electronic transmission is not merely desirable but essential for the sustenance of democracy and for re-election of deserving Legislature Members’ political survival,” he said.
