“It is my indeed humble recommendation to Mr President that you are a man of history. You were a senior man to very many of us in the struggle at the time when the journey of Nigeria and the prospect of democracy was less certain,” Igini said.
He described the document awaiting presidential signature as “a recipe for chaos” and “a recipe to undermine all that you have done when we were in the trenches,” before pleading – “What is put before you? Please take it back.”
Recalling hard-fought battles for credible polls, Igini reminded the president how past election victories were secured by the genuine will of voters rather than the influence of state machinery.
“And also remember that, at a time when the PDP was in office and when we were in office and they were saying that there was going to be a federal might, some of us stood out to say No.
In recent days, the ex-electoral chief has ramped up demands for compulsory real-time electronic transmission of results directly from polling units.
Igini’s intervention comes at a critical moment as the 10th Assembly seeks to reconcile conflicting versions of the electoral reforms, with the mandatory uploading of polling-unit results to the INEC Result Viewing Portal standing out as the most fiercely contested provision.
The former REC cautioned that whatever decision lawmakers eventually reach will shape the integrity of future elections and could determine the political survival of many serving legislators ahead of the 2027 general polls.
Persecondnews reported that on Sunday, February 15, Igini highlighted how manual result-counting leaves the door open for rigging, which party leaders often use to sideline lawmakers they no longer support.
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