By Joshua Tosin Ogunsakin 
Former Governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, has explained why he did not join in the recent protest against the National Assembly alongside former Labour Party presidential candidate, Mr Peter Obi.
El-Rufai suggested that he would have joined the protest if he had been in Nigeria.
This is even as he stressed that the push for real-time electronic transmission of election results is critical to stopping electoral manipulation.
El-Rufai made the remark during an interview on Trust TV, where he criticised the Senate’s handling of the proposed electoral reforms and suggested political interests were behind the delay.
“It’s unfortunate I have not been able to return to Nigeria, I would have joined Mr. Peter Obi and other party leaders in protesting to the National Assembly to restore the real-time and mandatory transmission of results from the polling unit,” he said.
According to reports, El-Rufai argued that the adoption of real-time transmission would make election rigging far more difficult, while accusing the ruling party of resisting the reform for political survival.
The former governor maintained that the House of Representatives had already supported the reform push, but the Senate was yet to align with the move.