Sowore Blasts Nigerian Lawmakers: ‘90% Won’t Return to NASS If Elections Are Truly Transparent’

By Emmanuel Kwada

Human rights activist and former presidential candidate Omoyele Sowore has sparked fresh controversy by asserting that up to 90% of Nigeria’s federal lawmakers and other elected officials would lose their seats if the country’s elections were conducted with full transparency.

Speaking on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief on Wednesday, Sowore sharply criticized the recent amendments to the Electoral Act by the Senate.

While the upper chamber approved the electronic transmission of election results a long-standing demand by many Nigerians it retained a clause permitting manual collation in areas with poor network coverage. Critics, including Sowore, view this as a loophole that undermines true electoral reform.

Sowore described the manual collation provision as “clever by half” and an “excuse” designed to preserve the status quo. “This excuse that there is no network in some states is just another balloon air on the part of these guys,” he said.

“They don’t want transparent elections because if elections are transparent, 90 per cent of them will not make it to the National Assembly  and of course the presidency and other elected positions, they know that.”

The activist argued that the retention of manual backup mechanisms creates opportunities to revert to what he called the “hardcoded way of reporting elections,” a practice that has long eroded public trust in Nigeria’s electoral process.

Sowore also took aim at the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) current Result Viewing Portal (IReV) system, labeling it outdated. He advocated for a shift to full electronic voting, pointing to India’s model as a benchmark.

India, with nearly 900 million registered voters, conducts elections using electronic voting machines that he described as “almost foolproof,” resulting in far fewer post-election disputes compared to Nigeria’s roughly 90 million voters.

“Why can’t we do what they are doing in India?” Sowore questioned. He further challenged the logic behind the current system, asking why Nigerians can conduct sensitive electronic transactions like banking and transfers but are deemed incapable of voting electronically from home or via secure devices.

The Senate’s amendment, finalized on Tuesday, followed intense public backlash and protests against earlier proposals that appeared to weaken electronic transmission requirements.

Despite the shift to allow electronic uploads as the primary method, the conditional manual fallback has drawn widespread criticism from civil society groups and opposition figures who argue it shifts the burden of credibility to INEC and risks manipulation in network-challenged areas.

Sowore’s comments come amid growing calls for more robust electoral reforms ahead of the 2027 general elections, with many Nigerians demanding measures that eliminate opportunities for result tampering and restore confidence in the democratic process.

As debates continue, Sowore’s bold claim has reignited discussions about the motivations behind resistance to full electoral transparency and whether Nigeria’s political class is prepared for truly free and fair polls.