A call to protect the Ballot: SDP urges Nigeria to choose transparency over regression

As the nation looks ahead to future elections, the Social Democratic Party (SDP) has raised a strong and urgent voice in defense of transparency, accountability, and the collective will of the Nigerian people.

In a press statement issued by Araba Rufus Aiyenigba, it’s National Publicity Secretary
, the SDP expressed deep concern over what it described as deliberate and unpatriotic resistance by the leadership of the 10th Senate to meaningful electoral reforms.

At the heart of this resistance, the party noted, is the refusal to provide a clear legislative mandate for the real-time electronic transmission of election results—an issue Nigerians have spoken about with one voice.

Across the country, citizens have made their position unmistakably clear. During the extensive nationwide public hearings conducted by the Senate in 2025 on the Electoral Act (Repeal and Enactment) Bill 2026, Nigerians demanded reforms that would move the nation beyond the credibility challenges that marred the 2023 general elections. Their message was simple but powerful: Nigeria’s democracy must be strengthened through modern, transparent, and technology-driven electoral processes.

The SDP emphasized that tools such as the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV) are no longer optional innovations but essential safeguards. These systems, the party argued, significantly reduce human error and block avenues for manipulation that often occur during the manual movement of results by anti-democratic actors.

According to the party, it is increasingly evident that many patriotic senators, the Nigerian electorate, and even the nation’s electoral umpire—the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)—are aligned in their desire to move the country forward.

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