In an interview with Daily Independent on Friday, March 6, 2026, the President of the Centre for Human and Socio-Economic Rights (CHSR), Alex Omotehinse, has stated that many politicians in Nigeria often support policies that favour their interests amid rejection of electronic transmission of election results.
Omotehinse said that political leaders sometimes push decisions that benefit them instead of the people and warned that this practice can slow national progress, he said that election laws should focus on fairness and transparency.
He recalled the period when the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan introduced card readers in elections, the card readers were used to verify voters’ fingerprints during voting.
He said that some of the devices failed to read fingerprints during that time, however, the election still continued despite the technical challenges and added that such challenges sometimes created opportunities for election manipulation and made it easier for some people to rig elections.
He said that technology has improved greatly in Nigeria, he said the country should continue moving forward in the use of modern election tools and explained that Nigeria should not remain with old voting methods when better options exist.
Omotehinse called on the National Assembly to pass laws that promote modern election systems, he said such laws should support transparency and reduce election fraud.
He urged Nigerian leaders to think about the future, he said the country should adopt technology that makes elections more reliable.
Omotehinse stated that Nigeria must keep improving its democratic system, he said lawmakers should create policies that help the nation move forward instead of staying with outdated practices.
”Our politicians always do what favours them. During the time of former president Good luck Jonathan, they used card readers that rejected fingerprints, but that did not stopped him from losing. Technology wise, Nigeria has gone far,” he said.