Armed police officers have fired teargas at protesters seeking creditable exercise at next year’s franchise.
The agitators, while holding the peaceful demonstration calling for a real-time electronic transmission of election results to strengthen electoral transparency, were teargassed by the security agency, with many of the taking took their heels for safety.
The remonstrators, at the National Assembly Complex in Abuja, on Tuesday, called on the government to ensure that there is a guarantee that votes are digitally uploaded in future polls to ensure that every voter has his ballot is counted at where he or she wants.
The protest drew activists, civil society organisations and citizens who insisted that amendments to the Electoral Act must compel immediate transfer of polling unit outcomes to the Independent National Electoral Commission Result Viewing portal, warning that delays weaken public trust in elections.
Chanting of“We no go gree, Akpabio pass the bill” and “Our vote must count,”were voiced while others waved placards reading “Don’t alter the bill, pass it”, “Rigging election is a coup,” directing their grievances at the National Assembly leaders they accused of slowing reform efforts.
Among the protesters were former Education Minister, Oby Ezekwesili, ex-African Action Congress presidential candidate Omoyele Sowore and former Social Democratic Party presidential candidate Adewole Adebayo, who had urged protesters to stay focused on sustained advocacy for electoral change.
Police officers, reportedly led by the National Assembly Divisional Police Officer, deployed anti-riot units and released teargas canisters into the crowd, triggering panic as people scrambled for safety, with several participants reported injured during the confusion.
Although the initial action forced demonstrators to retreat, they later regrouped near the Assembly gate and resumed chanting, prompting the arrival of additional police reinforcements in multiple Hilux vehicles that discharged more teargas to disperse them again.
