Renowned tech expert, Ebenezar Wey, in his comment on the issue, said: “The Senate knows very well that if they call on a tech person, whether a corporate tech expert or one that works as a government official, to confirm the viability of the networks and the possible alternatives that exist, no tech person will say electronic transmission cannot be done.
“There are various alternatives to the GSM Networks, and the funding that INEC receives is more than enough to make it happen.
“There are satellite networks, Starlinks, and even the old-fashioned WAN, which can be built to connect all polling units to the central server.
“Also, every tech person knows you must build redundancies into anything you are building, ask any serious bank with multiple branches and millions of bank account holders in Nigeria, and they will confirm that they have multiple alternatives when it comes to making their networks and services available to their customers via broadband, and they do these things at a fraction of the budget of INEC.
“So, why can’t INEC do the same for far more connections/people who would be on the networks on election day?
“There’s no excuse that can stand from the point of technology at this time, none. The game being played by the politicians is that of self-preservation because they know that the social contract between themselves and their constituents has been shattered a long time ago.”
When Vanguard sought the opinion of the regulator, the NCC, the commission refused to join issues with either the position of the Senate or the telcos.
However, a senior official of the commission, who pleaded anonymity, said: “These are political times and you can expect political statements and we are apolitical. But between you and I, the telcos have made enough investments that can get the country to do many things better than other countries we are emulating.”
The Nigerian telecom sector has seen significant improvements since 2021, driven by investments and government initiatives, including Network Optimisation and Base Station Deployment.
Operators, such as MTN Nigeria and Airtel Nigeria, have invested heavily in network expansion, with MTN committing N565.7billion in H1 2025 for fibre-to-the-home expansion, rural connectivity, and network densification. Airtel Nigeria activated 2,300 new telecom sites in Q1 2025.
In terms of area coverage, they have seen broadband penetration cross the 50% mark, with over 109.6 million subscriptions by December 2025, up from 96.3 million in 2024.
The Federal Government says it aims to achieve 80% national connectivity by 2027.
The telcos have also spurred investments industry-wide, exceeding $1billion in 2025, targeting fibre roll-out, new base stations, and upgrades to 4G and 5G networks. They have also promised to invest even more this year
The driving factor to some of these developments include the government’s project bridge, which is a national effort to expand fibre-optic infrastructure from 35,000 km to 125,000 km.
The Local Government 774 Connectivity Programme is another driving factor, and aims to support telemedicine, e-education and fintech services.
The integration of satellite broadband with the national fibre backbone to reach under-served areas also directs telcos’ investments into the satellite market.
The telcos are saying instead of agonising over inadequate telecom infrastructure, which in itself is a false narrative, the Senate should spur policies and legislation that would see several of the sector’s myriad of challenges mitigated, so election result transmission would not become a subject of debate again in the future.
Some of the solutions include reducing infrastructure vulnerabilities such as fibre cuts, vandalism and power disruptions which weaken the system, inflate costs and slow expansion. The Federal Government should see to strict enforcement of critical national assets status of the industry facilities.
They challenged the Federal Government to also ensure a stop to the regulatory fragmentation which is rife in the sector. There are multiple levies, right-of-way charges, and inconsistent policies which drive up costs.
For them, if these and other measures are taken, everybody will be on the same page, rather than divide on debates in every election circle on the viability of seamless electronic results transmission.
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