THE IMPERATIVE TO FIX NIGERIA’S ELECTORAL SYSTEM

 As Nigeria approaches the 2027 general elections, urgent attention must be given to the integrity of our electoral process. The 2023 elections exposed troubling realities: widespread vote manipulation, voter suppression, compromised technology, legal ambiguities, and post-election injustice.

Despite constitutional guarantees, power no longer truly resides with the people. The routine swearing-in of candidates before the conclusion of electoral petitions denies citizens genuine justice and renders elections performative.

 Section 64(4)–(6) and Section 50(2) of the Electoral Act 2022 give INEC unchecked discretion over result transmission and voting methods—creating loopholes for manipulation; electronic voting lacks constitutional backing, making innovations like BVAS and IReV legally vulnerable; president’s power to appoint the INEC Chairman and RECs raises serious questions about INEC’s neutrality; electoral petitions are not concluded before inauguration, weakening faith in the judiciary; and the absence of a functional Electoral Offences Commission enables impunity for rigging and violence.

The bold reforms required before 2027 include: Amend the Electoral Act to mandate real-time electronic accreditation, voting, and result transmission; enshrine electronic voting in the Constitution for legal clarity and nationwide enforceability; ensure all court cases are concluded before elected officials are sworn in; create an independent commission to appoint INEC leadership, free from executive control; establish the long-delayed Electoral Offences Commission to prosecute violations; and demilitarise elections by banning partisan security deployment and forming an Electoral Peace Corps.

The 2027 elections must not proceed under the current compromised framework. Credible politicians, civil society, media, youth, and religious leaders must build a nationwide coalition for electoral reform—similar to the patriotic resistance that ended colonial rule and military dictatorship.

Without a transparent and accountable electoral system, true democracy and sustainable development will remain out of reach.

Dr. James-Wisdom Abhulimen, Chairman, NIPR, Edo State Chapter