ELECTORAL ACT: OBI BLAMES LEADERSHIP FAILURE FOR NIGERIA’S STRUGGLES

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By: Balogun Ibrahim

Former presidential candidate Peter Obi on Tuesday criticised Nigeria’s electoral system, highlighting the country’s ongoing struggles to conduct credible elections despite having far fewer voters and polling units than India.

In a statement titled “Tale of Two Nations Continues,” Obi compared Nigeria’s electoral process with India’s, which he described as “a model” among democracies.

He pointed out that India has nearly 1 billion registered voters, with over 60% actively participating in elections, operates more than 1 million polling stations, hosts thousands of political parties, and uses technology to transmit election results electronically within days.

By contrast, Obi noted, Nigeria—with roughly one-seventh of India’s population—has about 93 million registered voters, representing less than 10% of India’s voter base, fewer than 20% of India’s polling stations, and only about 1% of the political parties.

“It is deeply troubling that Nigeria continues to struggle with elections, even when voter turnout remains below 20%,” Peter Obi said.

He added that the country “still cannot consistently deliver free, fair, and credible elections or transmit results promptly, especially compared to nations with far larger populations.”

Obi attributed the gap to leadership, noting that in India, political leaders, legislators, and the judiciary “work tirelessly for the welfare of their people and the future of their children.”

“In Nigeria, many political leaders implement policies that harm citizens and jeopardise the future of our children,” Peter Obi said, urging Nigerians to “demand leaders who prioritise the people, govern with integrity, and plan for a better tomorrow.”

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TINUBU PRESENTS INEC AND NAHCON NOMINEES FOR SENATE APPROVAL

Obi’s comments come amid renewed debate over the Electoral Act amendment currently before the National Assembly of Nigeria. Both the Senate and the House of Representatives have established conference committees to reconcile differences between their versions of the bill.

While the House-approved version allows for real-time electronic transmission of election results, the Senate’s version endorses electronic transmission to the Independent National Electoral Commission’s Result Viewing Portal but keeps manual collation as a backup in case of technical failure.

The House of Representatives experienced chaos on Tuesday as lawmakers clashed over a proposal to repeal the Electoral Act Amendment Bill, 2022, and replace it with the Electoral Act Amendment Bill, 2026.

The conference committees are expected to harmonise the differences before the bill moves to the next legislative stage.