Apostle Eugene Ogu, founder of the Abundant Life Evangel Mission and former Rivers State Chairman of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), announced that he has formally petitioned the United States government, the United Nations.
The European Union, and other key international bodies to intervene in the National Assembly's refusal to mandate direct electronic transmission of election results in real time.
This move comes in response to what Ogu describes as a grave threat to Nigeria's democratic process, potentially paving the way for electoral fraud in the 2027 presidential elections.
The petition, also addressed to local organizations including the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Trade Union Congress (TUC), National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU), PFN, and Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), calls for urgent action to compel the National Assembly to pass legislation ensuring a free, fair, transparent, and legal electoral process.
Ogu emphasized that the rejection of electronic transmission undermines the will of the Nigerian people and exposes the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and security agencies to manipulation.
In the petition, Ogu stated: “Nigerians may have endured massive looting of the nation’s treasury by politicians, which is responsible for the poor standard of living resulting in bad roads, poor power supply, inadequate medical care, poor quality education, lack of confidence in the judicial system, insecurity, absence of human rights freedom, and a high level of bribery and corruption across all sectors of government.”
“However the National Assembly must not play games with the country’s democracy. Only a free, fair, transparent and legal electoral process with compulsory electronic transmission of election results, which is domiciled in the constitution, is what Nigerians crave.”
Ogu criticized Senate President Godswill Akpabio and certain lawmakers as "political contractors" intent on derailing democracy, and urged foreign embassies to withhold travel documents for Nigerian politicians until the bill is passed.
He commended senators who supported the measure and highlighted that INEC had initially endorsed electronic transmission, only to later retract support by claiming it is not constitutionally mandated.
"This is not just about elections; it's about the soul of our nation," Ogu added in a statement. "We cannot allow vested interests to invite rigging and fraud. The international community must stand with Nigerians to ensure our democracy is not hijacked."
The petition underscores ongoing controversies surrounding the Electoral Act amendment, where opposition figures and civil society groups have pushed back against claims of outright rejection, insisting that provisions for electronic transmission were retained but not made mandatory.
However Ogu maintains that without compulsory real time transmission, the integrity of future polls remains at risk.