Wike Fires Back In Election Dispute
In Abuja on Monday, Nyesom Wike accused Rotimi Amaechi and other opposition figures of double standards over changes to the 2026 Electoral Act signed by Bola Tinubu.
He spoke during a media chat while reacting to criticism of provisions allowing manual transmission of results where electronic systems fail.
The opposition had faulted the clause, saying it could weaken transparency.
But Wike claimed that during the administration of Muhammadu Buhari, some of the same voices resisted electronic transmission for political reasons.
“Remember, under Buhari, the issue of electronic transmission came. People like Rotimi Amaechi, they were in government, they said, ‘no, don’t sign, if you sign, you lose the election’.
And this is the same person now who is coming out in public to say there should be electronic transmission, but he refused simply because he felt his boss would be affected,” Wike said.
He maintained that the new law still allows electronic transfer of results and only provides a backup where network coverage is poor.
“Now we are here, they did not say there should not be an electronic transmission. All they said is in case, and which is likely, let us not disenfranchise people by not allowing their votes to be counted,” he said.
Wike also defended the move to make direct primaries compulsory, arguing that indirect primaries favour powerful office holders.
Meanwhile, parties including the African Democratic Congress and the New Nigerian Peoples Party have urged the National Assembly to reopen amendments, describing parts of the law as “anti-democratic” and “obnoxious provisions”.
