The tech hypocrisy: Why Tinubu can tax and transfer, but can’t transmit election results, By Oto’ Drama

THE ink is barely dry on the Electoral Act (Repeal and Re-Enactment) Bill 2026, yet the stench of a coordinated assault on Nigeria’s democracy is already filling the air.

On Wednesday (yesterday), February 18, 2026, President Bola Tinubu signed into law a document that many believe has effectively pre-written the results of the 2027 general elections.

​By rejecting the mandatory, real-time electronic transmission of results from polling units to the IReV portal, the National Assembly—with the President’s ultimate blessing—has ignored the primary lesson of the 2023 elections: Manual collation is the graveyard of the Nigerian vote.

​● The Ghost of 2023: Mutilation by Design

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​We have been here before. In 2023, Nigerians watched in horror as results uploaded to the IReV portal told one story, while the final “declared” results told a completely different, manually altered tale. The clamour for reform was simple: remove the human hands that “cook” the books at ward and local government collation centers.

​Instead, our lawmakers have opted for a “dual transmission” model. They claim this is a pragmatic necessity because “the villages have no network.” But this excuse is not just thin—it is an insult to the intelligence of every Nigerian.

​●The Great Disconnect: Technology for Toil, but Not for Truth*♧●

​The government’s argument that Nigeria lacks the “broadband capability” to transmit election results is exposed as a lie when we look at how they use technology to extract and distribute money.

​The cash transfer irony is a case study. The government claims it has successfully transferred billions of Naira to “poor Nigerians” in all 774 Local Government Areas—including the most remote villages—through programs like N-Power and conditional cash transfers.

If the network is strong enough to move billions of Naira to a villager’s phone, why is it suddenly “non-existent” when it comes to moving a 10-kilobyte JPEG of a result sheet?

​President Tinubu’s administration recently invited the French government to collaborate on technology that removes taxes and levies from the accounts of struggling Nigerians daily. We have the technology to reach into a poor man’s pocket in real-time, yet we lack the technology to protect his vote in real-time?

​Here is the looting pipeline. It is no secret that billions in government resources are moved through electronic transfers daily. When it comes to the “transmission” of looted funds, there are no “network glitches” or “remote area” excuses.

●​Who is Deceiving Who?

​The message from the State House is clear: Technology is a welcome guest when it serves the government’s pocket, but a dangerous intruder when it serves the people’s power.

​By making electronic transmission “discretionary” rather than “mandatory,” the 2026 Act has given INEC a legal shield to turn off the lights whenever they choose. It leaves the 2027 elections vulnerable to the same physical mutilation and manipulation that broke the heart of the nation in 2023.

​● 2027: The People vs. The Machine

​President Tinubu often reminds us that he “fought for democracy.” But true democracy isn’t found in the speeches of the 1990s; it is found in the integrity of the ballot box today.

By signing a law that protects manual collation over digital transparency, the President has effectively declared war on the very democracy he claims to have built.

​As we look toward 2027, the battle lines are clear. It is no longer just about political parties. It is a battle between Nigerians who demand transparency and a Government that thrives in the dark.

​The question remains: If you can tax us by air, why must you count us by hand? The answer is simple—you can’t manipulate a machine as easily as you can intimidate a man.

■ Dr. Drama contributed this piece from NO, 12 Okotienor Street, Warri, Delta State, Nigeria.