Edo State Commissioner for Information, Kassim Afegbua, has urged citizens planning demonstrations over electronic transmission of election results to reconsider, saying protests will not alter the legislative process.
During an interview on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief on Monday, Afegbua argued that lawmakers cannot be compelled to pass any provision against their collective decision.
“I will advise those who want to protest that they should save their energy,” he said. “You cannot arm-twist or force legislation on a people.”
Afegbua noted that many public arguments about real-time electronic transmission of election results fail to consider how elections are conducted in practice.
“I’ve listened to several commentaries on this issue,” he said.
“A lot of the information out there is not practicable when compared with what actually happens during elections.”
He also stressed that the debate has focused too narrowly on a single aspect of the Electoral Act.
“If you take a holistic view of the entire Act, you will find other provisions that are not being discussed at all,” he added.
According to him, decisions in the National Assembly will ultimately reflect the majority party’s position.
“The simple doctrine of democracy is that the majority will have their way while the minority will have their say. In the Senate, APC members are more in number,” Afegbua stated.
The comments follow reports that the Senate rejected a proposed amendment to Clause 60(3) of the Electoral Amendment Bill, which sought to make electronic transmission of election results mandatory.
