Group Insists manual transmission of result attempt to subvert electorate’s will

Ahead the 2023 general elections, members of Citizens Intervention & Accountability Network (CIAN) have thrown their weight behind electronic transmission of results, describing what transpired at the National Assembly over Section 52 (2) of the Electoral Amendment Bill 2021 as a complete betrayal of public trust and calculated attempt to subvert the people’s will.

Speaking at a press conference in Lagos ahead of the public presentation of a book: ‘Nigeria’s Next President’ in December this year, the Chairman of the organisation, Mr. Olawunmi Olaniyan, disclosed that the stage is set for Nigerians to join hands with other like-minds to change the narrative of driving the country towards one-party state.

He said as a people-oriented group, his organisation would not folds its arms and allow the parliamentary ‘coup’ unchallenged at a time the power sector has repeatedly become a graveyard of failed promises.

“The stage is now set for another round of fake and fraudulent elections come 2023, wherein electronic balloting and electronic transmission of results have been jettisoned as capable of solving the opaque and dubious collation process,” he said.

Olaniyan said ‘Nigeria’s Next President’ as a civic empowerment project, is produced to ignite a paradigm shift in the failed social contract between the ruling elite and the masses, noting that the project will foster eternal vigilance and stir civic activism that will challenge conventions and demand accountability from elected office holders.

Also, the group’s Director of Information and Strategy, Dr. Candyfidel Onwuraokoye, said over-relying on the indolent and illegal political arrangement will only throw up worse leaders, lacking the strength and political will to fulfil electoral promises.