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As Nigeria edges closer to the 2027 general elections amid ongoing debates over electoral reforms, a prominent legal figure from Benue State has issued a strong call for unwavering judicial commitment to the enforcement of electronic transmission provisions in the nation’s electoral laws.
Barr. Alex Ter Adum, Ph.D., a former two-time Commissioner in Benue State who served as Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice in April 2012, and earlier as Commissioner for Commerce and Industries in July 2011, has released a detailed position paper titled “Judicial Fidelity: The Only Panacea to Electoral Integrity in Nigeria.” In the document, Adum warns that the future of Nigeria’s democracy hinges on the courts’ strict adherence to statutory safeguards designed to protect the integrity of elections.
Drawing on his background in law, governance, and public administration—including his tenure as Managing Director of the Benue Investment and Property Company (BIPIC)—Adum argues that the country stands at a critical constitutional crossroads. He identifies the primary threat to democracy not merely as electoral malpractice itself, but as the progressive erosion of judicial certainty in upholding electoral laws.
Adum stresses that no democratic system can survive if courts treat mandatory compliance mechanisms as discretionary rather than binding obligations. He highlights key innovations introduced under the Electoral Act 2022, such as the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and electronic transmission of results, which were enacted to address longstanding issues including result manipulation, collation centre distortions, and post-election irregularities.
“These were not ornamental provisions,” Adum asserts. “They were legislative responses to systemic fraud, designed to erect structural barriers against manipulation.” However, he expresses concern that judicial interpretations in some post-election litigations have diluted these reforms by failing to demand strict compliance with both the letter and spirit of the law. When courts exhibit what he calls “interpretive timidity,” statutory safeguards risk being downgraded to mere procedural suggestions rather than enforceable mandates.
The former Attorney-General directs particular criticism at recent legislative developments in the amendment of the electoral framework. While noting the Senate’s introduction of a provision mandating electronic transmission of results from polling units, he faults the inclusion of a proviso permitting manual transmission in cases of network failure. Adum cautions that such exceptions, based on Nigeria’s electoral history, often evolve into standard practice rather than rare contingencies. He references past measures like incident forms, originally intended as limited remedies, which allegedly expanded far beyond their initial scope.
“Citizens are apprehensive that this new proviso may become a convenient cover to sidestep mandatory electronic transmission altogether,” he warned.
Adum predicts that if the final harmonized version of the bill leans toward the Senate’s approach rather than the stricter position previously adopted by the House of Representatives, post-2027 election disputes could flood the courts once more. He issues a wake-up call to the Nigerian judiciary, urging judges to embrace a strict, literal, and purposive interpretation of provisions governing electronic transmission in any revised Electoral Act.
To guide judicial decision-making in electoral disputes after 2027, Adum outlines five non-negotiable principles:
1. Mandatory compliance: Provisions prescribing electronic transmission must be treated as compulsory, not optional administrative guidelines.
2. Burden of proof: In disputes over transmission failures, INEC must bear the full burden to prove, with polling-unit-specific evidence, why compliance was impossible and what remedial actions were taken.
3. Supremacy of BVAS data: Electronically captured and time-stamped records should serve as primary evidence in discrepancies between manual collations and BVAS data, whether transmitted to the IREV portal or not.
4. Narrow construction of exceptions: Courts must interpret statutory exceptions narrowly, rejecting generalized claims of “technical glitches” or “network failure” without credible, verifiable proof.
5. [The fifth principle, as referenced in available details, reinforces a purposive approach to statutory interpretation to uphold the intent of electoral safeguards.]
Adum’s intervention comes at a time of heightened national discourse on electoral reforms, particularly following the National Assembly’s recent handling of amendments to electronic transmission clauses. His call underscores the critical role of an independent and resolute judiciary in safeguarding voter will and democratic stability in Africa’s most populous nation. As preparations for 2027 intensify, stakeholders await further developments in both legislative harmonization and judicial readiness to defend electoral integrity.
