“Name the States”- Dele Momodu Challenges Akpabio Over Claim of Network Failure in Nine States

• Dele Momodu has challenged Senate President Godswill Akpabio’s claim that poor network coverage in nine states could block electronic transmission of election results, urging INEC to fix connectivity issues instead of weakening electoral reforms.
• Momodu further argued that weakening or cancelling electronic transmission because of challenges in nine states out of 36 and the FCT would portray Nigeria as a country resigned to backwardness and decline.

A chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Dele Momodu, has taken a swipe at Senate President Godswill Akpabio over claims that mobile network services are unavailable in nine states of the federation, a situation Akpabio said could hinder real-time electronic transmission of election results.

Reacting in a post on X, Momodu questioned the logic behind using network failure as a justification to undermine electronic transmission, urging the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to immediately engage telecommunications companies to resolve any connectivity challenges.

“Sir, name the nine states in which mobile networks are not working in Nigeria. Please, let INEC immediately contact and contract our telecoms giants to work earnestly on those regions,” Momodu wrote.

He dismissed the argument as outdated, adding: “We are no longer in an illiterate era; if telephones and internet are now working at super speeds on aircrafts flying at about 40,000 feet in the skies, we should stop giving untenable excuses.”

Momodu further argued that weakening or cancelling electronic transmission because of challenges in nine states out of 36 and the FCT would portray Nigeria as a country resigned to backwardness and decline.

His comments followed Akpabio’s remarks at a public event on Electoral Act amendments, where the Senate President said insecurity had rendered mobile networks ineffective in about nine states.

“Real-time transfer of results means that in over nine states where networks are not working because of insecurity, there will be no election results,” Akpabio said, adding, “If the national grid collapses and no network is working, there will be no election results.”