Senator Henry Seriake Dickson, representing Bayelsa West in the National Assembly, on Thursday participated as a discussant in a panel discussion on electoral reform organized by ActionAid Nigeria.
In his remarks at the event, the senator expressed gratitude to ActionAid Nigeria, other civil society organizations, and civic-minded Nigerians for their sustained concern and efforts to improve the country’s electoral laws. He specifically commended the peaceful manner in which these groups have voiced their positions and urged all Nigerians not to lose faith in the nation’s democracy or in the country itself.
Senator Dickson voiced deep shock at the ongoing debates, disagreements, and fears surrounding the electronic transmission of election results in Nigeria. He highlighted that elections are still conducted manually, through manual voting, manual counting, and manual entry of results onto result sheets—yet significant concerns persist about transmitting those same manually compiled results electronically. “That is shocking and speaks to where we are and who we are as a country,” he stated.
Drawing a stark comparison, the senator pointed to India’s electoral system, where the Election Commission enjoys broad trust and support from all stakeholders. Despite managing elections for over 980 million registered voters (with recent figures approaching or exceeding 990 million), immense ethnic, religious, and geographic diversity, and approximately one million polling stations, India conducts free and fair elections with minimal challenges. In contrast, Nigeria operates with about 176,000 polling units.
Senator Dickson reiterated his long-standing advocacy for full electronic voting in Nigeria, a position he has championed consistently. He argued that the country has “no business with excessive paperwork and manual voting,” which create opportunities for interventions, interferences, and human errors. Instead, he called on civil society groups to collaborate with lawmakers and stakeholders to advance electronic voting, enabling voters to cast ballots at polling stations with results recorded and monitored in real time.
While acknowledging the legitimate public demand for real-time vote monitoring, he noted that the current system does not yet support full electronic voting. As a result, the immediate practical step remains the electronic transmission of manually prepared Form EC8A result sheets from polling units to a central server—yet even this faces resistance. “It is a pity. It is an indictment of who we are and where we are,” he lamented.
The senator renewed his call for the adoption of the House of Representatives’ version of the Electoral Act amendment bill. Regardless of which version ultimately prevails, he emphasized that both chambers now accept the principle of electronic transmission of Form EC8A from polling units.
He further urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to issue clear, mandatory guidelines and regulations stipulating that every polling unit result must be electronically transmitted, and that only such transmitted results should be used for collation.
Senator Dickson stressed the broader importance of national unity in reforming the electoral system, warning that elections have long undermined Nigeria’s image, fostering division rather than unification or leadership renewal. With a rapidly growing youth population and inadequate investment in education and skills development, he cautioned against the risk of mishandled elections triggering a major national crisis. “We hope that day does not come,” he said.
In closing, the senator called on Nigerians to prepare for future elections by mobilizing, turning out to vote, supporting preferred candidates, and insisting that their votes count and are electronically transmitted to INEC’s IReV portal by presiding officers.
“Don’t give up on our democracy. Don’t give up on elections. Organise and mobilise!” he concluded.
Senator Henry Seriake Dickson remains a vocal proponent of electoral reforms aimed at enhancing transparency and credibility in Nigeria’s democratic processes.
