Southern reps: Attempt to block electronic transmission of election results is malicious, unpatriotic

Members of the house of representatives from the 17 southern states have backed the resolution of the southern governors against the move to prevent the electronic transmission of election results.

TheCable had reported that section 50(2) of the electoral act amendment bill was modified by the leadership of the national assembly to state that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) “shall not transmit results of elections by electronic means”.

The bill is yet to be passed into law.

At a meeting held in Lagos on Monday, the governors of the southern region spoke on various national issues, including the 2023 presidency, electoral act amendment bill, and security.

In a statement issued on Tuesday and signed by Victor Nwokolo, chairman of  southern caucus in lower legislative chamber, the lawmakers said the caucus remains committed to credible elections, adding that they join “our governors in rejecting the moves to outlaw the electronic transmission of election result in the Electoral Act, as well as the confirmation of exclusive jurisdiction in pre-election matters on the Federal High Court”.

“The attempt to tamper with the Electoral Act to remove electronic transmission of result is therefore a malicious and unpatriotic act aimed to emasculate our electoral system, undermine our democracy and destabilise our dear country, and such cannot be condoned or justified under any guise whatsoever,” they said.

The lawmakers also backed the position of the governors on power shift to the south.

“We note that the demand that the next President of Nigeria should come from the southern region unambiguously represents the opinion of majority of Nigerians across board, in tandem with the already established rotation of presidency position between southern and northern Nigeria,” Nwokolo said.

The lawmakers also kicked against the three percent allocation of operating expenditure of oil firms to host communities.

“On the Petroleum Industry Bill, the Southern members of the House of Representatives also back our governors in rejecting the proposed 30% share of profit for the exploration of oil and gas in the basins,” the statement reads.

“We also reject the moves to vest the ownership structure of the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) in the Federal Ministry of Finance and support the governors in their resolve that such should be held in trust by Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) since all tiers of government have stakes in that agency.

“As lawmakers, we insist that the 30% share of profit as well as vesting ownership structure of the proposed NNPC on the ministry of finance instead of the NSIA do not reflect the desired essentials of justice, equity and fairness.

“We however note the support lent by our governors to the 5% share of the oil revenue to host community as recommended by the House of Representatives and we assure that every effort would be made to sustain our position at the harmonisation level.”

The lawmakers said they “fully support the resolution by the governors that deductions from the Federation Account for the Nigeria Police Security Trust Fund should be distributed among the states and Federal Government to combat security challenges”.

“On security, the Southern members of the House of Representatives restate our support for the establishment of state police, ban on open grazing by southern states and that state governors, as Chief Security Officers in the states must be duly informed before any security institution undertakes any operation in their states,” they added.