Peter Obi, the Labour Party’s candidate for president in 2023, joined the Occupy National Assembly rally in Abuja on Monday.
The protest comes after the Senate passed the Electoral Act 2022 (Repeal and Reenactment) Amendment Bill 2026 for the third time. In this reading, the lawmakers took out the words “real-time” broadcast of election results, according to Channels TV.
The Senate has made a number of statements to clear up the confusion about reports that it turned down electronic transmission of results. However, the protesters say that lawmakers must make it clear in the proposed legislation that “real-time electronic transmission” is included.
Obi, who is now a member of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), is one of the people who is protesting at the National Assembly gate.
He noted that the Senate has to stop the kinds of problems that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) reported in 2023 and require results to be sent electronically in real time.
The protest includes representatives of civil society groups, a few members of the opposition African Democratic Congress (ADC), and several women’s groups.
The demonstrators started their march at the Federal Secretariat and made their way to the National Assembly gate.
There were a lot of security guards at the scene, including people from the Nigerian Army, the Nigeria Police Force, and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps.
The police have already put up barriers at the entrance of the National Assembly.
However, several members of the civil society groups who talked to Channels Television said that the protestors don’t plan to go into the National Assembly, since the protest will mostly happen at the door.
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