Boniface Okoro in Umuahia
A pro-All Progressives Congress (APC) group, Renewed Hope for Greater Nigeria (RHGN), has called on the nation’s security agencies to invite the presidential candidate of the Nigerian Democratic Congress (NDC), Mr. Peter Obi, for questioning over his proposed plan to establish a parallel election result transmission system.
The group warned that the plan, if allowed to materialise, is a recipe for plunging the 2027 general election and the nation into crisis.
The call was made by the Deputy National Leader, Southeast of RHGN, Mazi Franklin Ngoforo, at a news briefing in Umuahia yesterday following Obi’s interview on Arise News on September 10, 2026.
Ngoforo said during the interview, Obi had advocated what he called “dual transmission” of election results, stating that while results would be transmitted to the designated INEC portal, they would also be transmitted “to another platform where the people can see it.”
He said the proposal, coming less than five months to the 2027 polls, was weighty enough to warrant immediate clarification from the NDC leadership and intervention by security and intelligence agencies.
Specifically, he urged the Department of State Services (DSS), the Nigeria Police Force, the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) and other relevant agencies to invite the NDC leadership and Obi to establish whether any parallel electoral infrastructure was being developed, identify those behind it, determine its purpose and obtain a clear undertaking to respect the constitutional and statutory electoral framework.
“We must not wait until Nigeria is on fire before we begin asking questions. And if anybody knowingly lights that fire, the people and the law must hold those responsible accountable,” Ngoforo warned.
The APC chieftain argued that the proposal is in open conflict with the Nigerian Constitution and the Electoral Act, which vest exclusive powers for organising and supervising elections in the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
He cited Section 153(1)(f) of the 1999 Constitution, which establishes INEC, and Section 153(2), which provides that its composition and powers are as contained in Part I of the Third Schedule. Paragraph 15 of that Schedule, he noted, assigns INEC the responsibility to organise, undertake and supervise elections into the offices of President, Vice President, Governor, Deputy Governor and members of the National and State Houses of Assembly.
He also cited Sections 60(3), 60(5) and 62(2) of the Electoral Act 2026, which prescribe that Presiding Officers shall electronically transmit results from each polling unit to the IReV portal after Form EC8A has been signed and stamped, transmit results, including accredited voters, to the next collation level, and mandate INEC to maintain a National Electronic Register of Election Results.
According to him, while Nigerians have every right to demand transparent elections, public access to results and stronger technology, political parties and candidates cannot establish a rival electoral architecture and present it as an alternative source of official results.
“Nigeria cannot have two competing centres of electoral authority. Every Nigerian wants credible elections. Every Nigerian wants his vote to count. But the answer cannot be to create rival electoral authorities,” he said.