PDP Insists on Electronic Transmission of 2023 Election Results

Says invasion of Presidential Villa shows Buhari can’t secure Nigeria

Chuks Okocha

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday said that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) should not have excuses not to use the electronic direct transmission of results in 2023 general election and other future polls.

The party has also said it was alarmed by the invasion of the Presidential Villa by bandits and armed robbers, describing the development as a further pointer to the collapse of security command structure under President Muhamamdu Buhari’s watch.

The party’s position is predicated on INEC’s announcement of its readiness to conduct online (electronic) registration of voters for future elections.

The PDP, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan, stated that since INEC could deploy technology to conduct online registration of voters, which entails electronic transmission of voter’s data to its central server, it should also conduct an electronic transmission of results directly from the polling unit to its central server.

The PDP said: “Our party calls the attention of the commission to the fact that it no longer has any excuse not to employ the direct transmission of results from polling units, which will ensure credible elections by eliminating manipulations, alterations, switching and the disappearance of election results during manual collation processes.”

It added that if INEC could use the electronic platform for registration of voters, it could as well deploy the same technology for electronic transmission of results in future elections, including those of 2023.

Meanwhile, the PDP has said it was alarmed by the invasion of the Presidential Villa by bandits and armed robbers, describing the development as a further pointer to the collapse of security command structure under President Muhamamdu Buhari’s watch.

In a separate statement by its Ologbondiyan, the main opposition party said that the reported assault on the residence of the Chief of Staff to the President, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari, within the precinct of the Presidential villa, was too close to home and had heightened apprehensions over the capacity of the Buhari to secure the nation.

“All over the world, the Presidential Villa, as the seat of power and national sovereignty, is the fortress of the nation that ought to have impregnable security.

“As such, any breach of security, particularly by outlaws and in sequence, sends a clear danger signal to the overall security of the nation.”

The main opposition party said that it was imperative to state that such security infraction, that gave way for outlaws to invade the Presidential Villa in sequence, inspite of its perceptibly secured ambience, could only happen under an absentee President, who had not demonstrated the required capacity expected of his office.

The PDP also recalled the security breaches in June last year, involving shooting, violent combats, raids and free use of firearms within the precinct of the Presidential Villa, arising from a bitter squabble between members of President Buhari’s family and some security aides.

Accordingly, the PDP said, “Our party is worried that if President Buhari cannot guarantee the security of the Presidential Villa, then his capacity to secure the entire country is no longer assured”.

The PDP urged Buhari to wake up from slumber, review his security architecture and take decisive steps, beyond his lethargic body language, to secure the nation.