Former presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Mr. Peter Obi, joined hundreds of demonstrators at the national assembly complex to protest against the Senate’s handling of amendments to the Electoral Act, particularly the controversial decision to drop the clause mandating real-time electronic transmission of election results.
The protesters, drawn largely from the Obidient Movement and other pro-democracy groups, accused lawmakers of deliberately weakening electoral safeguards ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Chanting solidarity songs and waving placards bearing inscriptions such as “Our votes must count,” “No to electoral robbery,” and “Protect democracy now,” the protesters marched from the Federal Secretariat towards the National Assembly.
A heavy security presence, comprising personnel of the Nigeria Police Force, Nigerian Army, and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, prevented them from entering the complex.
Addressing journalists outside the barricaded gates, Obi condemned what he described as a steady erosion of Nigeria’s democratic gains.
“We must dismantle this criminality and prove that we are now a nation that shows light in Africa,” he said.
Obi’s presence electrified the crowd, reinforcing his symbolic status among youths who see him as the face of the 2023 political awakening that challenged Nigeria’s entrenched political order.
The National Coordinator of the Obidient Movement Worldwide, Dr Yunusa Tanko, warned that protests would persist until lawmakers explicitly restored real-time electronic transmission of results.
“If there is no electronic transmission of results, there will be no election. Our elections must be credible,” Tanko said.
He argued that manual interference during result collation had long undermined elections and that electronic transmission was introduced precisely to address that problem following failures in earlier electoral cycles.
Popular activist Randy Peters also vowed sustained demonstrations.
“Tomorrow (today), we will be back here until the Senate does the right thing. The current administration supported the June 12 campaign. It was about free and fair elections,” he said.
Invoking the spirit of the June 12, 1993 election, Peters asked why elected leaders would resist reforms that guarantee credible outcomes.
“Do we have democrats who are afraid of losing elections? In 2027, our votes must count. The most important thing is that our votes must count. Tomorrow, they will meet us here again,” he added.
Meanwhile, Deji Adeyanju has commended the former Anambra state governor for joining the protest.
His words, “I commend Peter Obi for joining the protest at the National Assembly today against the new Electoral Act, which I believe is an anti-people law and a major hindrance to true electoral reform in Nigeria. All leaders must take a stand and actively oppose such laws”.
