Utomi Urges Constituents to Recall Lawmakers Opposing Real-Time Result Transmission

Professor of political economy Pat Utomi has called on Nigerians to begin recall processes against members of the National Assembly who resisted the push for real-time electronic transmission of election results.

Speaking during an appearance on Channels Television, Utomi argued that elected officials who fail to reflect the will of their constituents undermine the essence of representative democracy. He insisted citizens remain the ultimate authority and should hold lawmakers accountable through peaceful protests and constitutional recall procedures.

His remarks followed heated debates surrounding amendments to the Electoral Act. While the House of Representatives had earlier considered provisions for real-time uploads to the election results portal, the Senate endorsed electronic transmission without explicitly mandating immediacy and allowed manual documentation as backup.

Utomi maintained that the outcome reflected a failure of representation, alleging that some lawmakers deliberately ignored public expectations in ways that could distort electoral outcomes.