Why I Didn’t Join Obi at NASS Protest — El-Rufai Breaks Silence on Electoral Reform

Former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has explained why he was absent from the recent protest at the National Assembly, led by former Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi, over stalled electoral reforms.
El-Rufai said his absence was simply because he was outside the country, stressing that he would have joined the demonstration if he had been in Nigeria at the time.
He made the clarification during an interview on Trust TV, where he also threw his weight behind calls for the real-time and mandatory electronic transmission of election results, describing it as crucial to ending electoral manipulation in Nigeria.
“It’s unfortunate I have not been able to return to Nigeria,” El-Rufai said. “I would have joined Mr Peter Obi and other party leaders in protesting to the National Assembly to restore the real-time and mandatory transmission of results from the polling unit.”
The former governor criticised the Senate’s handling of proposed electoral reforms, suggesting that political interests, rather than national interest, were responsible for the delay.
According to him, adopting real-time transmission of results would significantly reduce the chances of rigging elections, making manipulation at collation centres far more difficult.
El-Rufai further accused the ruling party of resisting the reform as a strategy for political survival, noting that transparency in the electoral process poses a threat to entrenched interests.
He added that while the House of Representatives had already shown support for the reform, the Senate was yet to align, creating a legislative bottleneck.
The former governor’s comments have added momentum to the growing debate over electoral transparency, as political stakeholders intensify pressure on the National Assembly to fast-track reforms ahead of future elections.