President and Chief Executive
Africa Development Studies Centre (ADSC) and Member, Harvard Business Review Advisory Council, Sir Victor Oluwafemi has said Electoral Reforms must follow readiness, not rhetoric as connectivity is still very low in rural areas of Nigeria.

The ADSC president made this assertion in a statement on Monday declaring that:

“The Office of the President and Chief Executive of the Africa Development Studies Centre (ADSC) issues this statement as an expert governance and public policy advisory on the ongoing national discourse surrounding electronic voting and real time transmission of election results in Nigeria.

“This intervention is not political. It is institutional, evidence based, and grounded in systems thinking drawn from comparative governance practice and digital transformation experience.

He insisted that Nigeria is not yet structurally ready for real time result transmission as Nigeria’s democratic aspiration must be matched by infrastructural reality.

“At present, the push for real time electronic transmission of election results risks prioritising speed over integrity, and visibility over verifiability.

“Nigeria still conducts elections through manual voting, manual counting, and physical documentation at polling units.

“Every valid result begins with paper processes, human procedures, and environmental dependencies that technology alone cannot correct.

“Without stable electricity, universal telecom coverage, cyber resilient systems, uniform training, and legal clarity, real time transmission remains aspirational rather than operational.

Oluwafemi explained that: “Attempting to enforce it nationwide under current conditions risks three serious outcomes:
• Disenfranchisement, particularly in rural and low connectivity communities
• Expanded cyber vulnerability, where perception of compromise alone can delegitimise outcomes
• Increased post election litigation, due to conflicting evidentiary standards

“Even advanced democracies do not prioritise instant transmission over auditability. They retain paper as the legal anchor while using technology to support verification, reconciliation, and transparency.

“The Issue Is Not Technology. It Is Sequencing.

“Electoral reform must be engineered as national infrastructure, not introduced as an election season feature.

“From a governance systems perspective, Nigeria requires a phased and platform based approach to electoral modernisation.

“This is where Policy as a Platform (PaaP) and Results as a Service (RaaS) provide practical, non partisan pathways forward.

What Policy as a Platform (PaaP) Offers INEC

“PaaP reframes electoral reform as a continuous, standards driven governance system.

Applied to the electoral process, PaaP would:
• Establish minimum national readiness thresholds for power, connectivity, cybersecurity, and device integrity
• Enable gradual, geographically sequenced deployment rather than a risky nationwide switch
• Align law, operations, technology, and dispute resolution into one coherent electoral platform
• Institutionalise transparency and auditability as design features, not post election explanations

“Under PaaP, elections are treated as engineered systems, not improvised events.

What Results as a Service (RaaS) Delivers

“RaaS shifts national focus away from how quickly results appear, towards how credibly they are produced.

For electoral administration, RaaS would:
• Treat each polling unit result as a verified service output with defined checks and validation stages
• Prioritise reconciliation, traceability, and audit trails before public visibility
• Reduce disputes by strengthening confidence in process rather than accelerating announcements
• Measure success by acceptance and legitimacy, not by transmission speed

In democratic governance, trust is built on proof, not on immediacy.

ADSC Advisory Position

“Nigeria does not need to abandon electoral technology. It needs to respect the order of reform.

“Infrastructure must come before automation. Verification must come before visibility. Trust must come before speed.

“Until foundational gaps in power, connectivity, cybersecurity, operational discipline, and legal coherence are addressed, real time electronic transmission of results should remain a medium term objective, not an immediate mandate.

“Electoral reform must be deliberate, inclusive, and system ready.

“That is how democracies endure, he added.

The chairman of the national Hajj commission of Nigeria ,Professor Abdullahi Sale Usman has resigned

A credible source told Nigerian Tracker about the development.

Since his appointment as NAHCON chairman the source said Professor Pakistan is battling with intense pressure from some quarters despite that he did not commit any wrong.

The Faculty of Engineering, Experts Advocate Practical Education, Energy Innovation for Economic Growth University Kano (BUK), has held its 5th Engineering Conference, bringing together policymakers, academics, engineers, and industry stakeholders to examine Nigeria’s industrial future.

The conference, themed “Engineering Innovations and Economic Policies: Driving Sustainable Industrial Growth in Nigeria,” focused on Nigeria’s transition from oil dependency to a diversified, innovation-driven economy.

Delivering the keynote address, the Executive Secretary of the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), Professor Idris Muhammad Bugaje, stressed that energy remains the most critical pillar of national development and must be prioritised by engineers, governments, and policymakers.

Professor Bugaje lamented the dilapidated state of infrastructure in the public sector, noting that poor energy planning continues to hinder industrial productivity. He urged state governments to explore mini-grid energy solutions as a practical pathway to expanding electricity access, particularly for industrial clusters and rural communities.

According to him, innovation must be environmentally conscious, adding that engineers should move beyond inventions to sustainable innovations that align with climate realities and long-term economic goals.

Earlier, former Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Professor Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, delivered a lecture titled “Engineering Start-ups, Digital Economy and the Future of Industrial Growth.”

Pantami said questioning Nigeria’s education system should not be seen as an attack on the system or its products, but as a necessary step towards improvement. He observed that the current curriculum remains largely theoretical, static, and outdated, leaving little room for creativity, research, and problem-solving.

“Our education system often operates on the principle of ‘garbage in, garbage out,’ because students are not encouraged to contribute, innovate, or challenge existing knowledge,” he said.

Pantami noted that emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), datafication, blockchain technology, nanotechnology, augmented reality, and virtual reality are rapidly transforming global economies and industrial processes.

He emphasised that to remain competitive, Nigerian students must be equipped not only with technical expertise but also with critical soft skills, including social skills, creative thinking, analytical reasoning, and problem-solving abilities.

“These skills are essential in a digital economy where innovation, adaptability, and collaboration define success,” Pantami added.

The former minister highlighted the growing role of engineering start-ups in solving emerging societal and industrial problems, noting that small, technology-driven companies now play a significant role in global economic growth.

He disclosed that over 150 million start-ups exist globally, many of which have grown into billion-dollar companies known as unicorns.

Pantami revealed that Africa currently has seven unicorns, five of which are from Nigeria, attributing this success to an enabling policy environment during his tenure as Director-General of NITDA and Minister.

However, he identified policy implementation, rather than policy formulation, as Nigeria’s major challenge, describing poor implementation as a key driver of corruption and institutional failure.

Pantami stressed that universities and technical institutions must work closely with government, industry, and other stakeholders through sustained engagement to ensure graduates emerge as job creators rather than job seekers.

He concluded by calling for the revival of local industries through innovation-driven engineering solutions, noting that strengthening domestic production would significantly reduce import dependence and stimulate sustainable economic growth.

In his remarks, the Registrar of the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN), Engr. Prof. Okorie Austine Uchegusi, stressed the importance of appointing certified engineers to leadership positions in engineering-related agencies and parastatals.

He argued that aligning engineering responsibilities with professional expertise is vital to reversing persistent infrastructural failures and curbing unprofessional practices in project execution.

“Placing certified COREN engineers at the helm of engineering institutions is a critical step towards addressing dilapidated infrastructure, recurring project failures, and gaps in technical competence,” he said.

Professor Uchegusi expressed concern over the increasing number of young Nigerian engineering graduates leaving the country due to limited recognition and lack of meaningful projects at home.

“It is disheartening to see our young talents contributing to the development of other nations when their expertise is urgently needed here. If we continue to deny them opportunities, we are only pushing them further away,” he lamented.

He pledged to restore the dignity and integrity of the engineering profession, adding that recurring engineering disasters such as building collapses and frequent national grid failures could be drastically reduced if certified professionals were appointed to relevant positions.

He also called on policymakers to strengthen the manufacturing sector, noting that a vibrant industrial base would significantly reduce hardship and improve the overall wellbeing of society.