The Executive Director, Policy and Legal Advocacy Center, Clement Nwankwo has said that the credibility of Nigeria’s 2027 general elections will ultimately depend on what INEC delivers, not on assurances from its leadership.

He said this while speaking with ARISE NEWS on Monday, where he discussed lingering controversies over amendments to the Electoral Act.

“Everyone has his role to play, but ‘the taste of the pudding is in the eating.’ We’ll wait to see in 2027 what INEC is able to deliver. Certainly, the controversy surrounding the Electoral Act remains. For those of us in civil society who participated as technical advisors, there’s disappointment that some recommendations didn’t pass. I refer directly to the provisions around Section 60, Subsection 3 regarding the real-time transmission of results. This failed to pass”, he stated.

Speaking on INEC Chairman’s recent promise of credible elections and a “massive mock test”, even though critical ad-hoc staff will not be part of the mock test, Nwankwo said:

“I think when you look towards the fact that elections are going to be happening in January and February, ad-hoc staff are usually recruited from the crop of youth corps members who would be available during that period. So it’s understandable that if there’s going to be mock elections in the next couple of weeks, you will not have the appropriate youth corps members who would be in camp or on service at the time.”

He added that the absence of youth corps members should not stop preparations, since other stakeholders can participate.

“But there are a whole lot of other actors—stakeholders, including political parties, regular INEC staff, civil society, and the media—who would be available for mock preparations”, he said.

Highlighting controversies surrounding the Electoral Act, 2026, Nwankwo said:

“There is also contention regarding the mode for selection of candidates. Section 84 prescribes only direct primaries; consensus in the act says if it fails, you must go to direct primary. This was different from what the joint committee suggested. Additionally, you’ve had elections brought forward. If elections are scheduled for January 16th, 2027, and the act says you must submit your list of candidates 120 days before, why does INEC want that submitted no later than May 30th? That’s 231 days before the election. These are issues INEC needs to look at.”

He further argued that voter and party membership registers are flawed, noting that INEC cannot effectively verify or regulate them.

“Clearly, if you look at elections dating back to 1999, you had a national voters register that had all sorts of names like ‘Michael Jackson’ and fingerprints imprinted with palm kernels. It’s not the first time we’ve seen interference. I think many of us question the current national voters register and believe it needs a more sophisticated mode of capturing voters.

“The purpose of the membership register is to build internal democracy and ensure people aren’t jumping from one party to another—contesting primaries in Party A on March 1st and jumping to Party B on March 2nd. I agree that INEC likely doesn’t have the capacity to scrutinize this, and there seems to be no consequence for a party that doesn’t submit a particular number of persons. The rush to claim membership numbers has no real significance respecting INEC’s preparations”, he said.

Nwankwo emphasised that INEC officials must be held legally accountable and that the process for transmitting and verifying election results needs to be clear.

“We need to define the status of guidelines. As a lawyer, I know guidelines are made pursuant to an act; once made, they become part of the law. This needs to be understood by the judiciary. The Electoral Act prescribes offenses and punishment. When officials fail to comply with the law, they should be subject to those punishments.

“Regarding Section 60, Subsection 3, there is indeed a requirement that results be transmitted electronically. The controversy is over timeliness—is it real-time or delayed? The entire Section 60 is quite clear that it’s mandatory. Now, regarding collation: do you collate based on the portal or the field (Form EC8A)? The Form EC8A is always the primary evidence. The portal has great evidential value to cross-check the EC8A if there is controversy”, he explained.

Addressing voter apathy and low participation turnout, Nwankwo urged voters and political parties to actively engage in order to protect the democratic process.

“I would say we cannot afford to lose our democracy. If people feel disenchanted, the best recourse is to go out there and vote. There is also a responsibility on political parties. In 2023, we saw many parties did not have agents in the polling units. Parties need to be serious. If they want to contest, they should identify, train, and monitor agents. That’s how elections are won”, he urged.

Nwankwo maintained that Nigeria’s electoral system still faces major challenges, and public trust needs to be rebuilt.

“We certainly need to rebuild faith. If you look at 2007, results were announced when only 13 states had sent in results. Today, the collation process is still the ‘weak link.’ Like I said, the taste of the pudding is in the eating. When INEC says it’s going to be 100 percent, we want to see how it runs. We will draw attention at every stage where we think something is going wrong. You cannot ask parties to conduct primaries 240 days before elections when the act says 120 days.” (Arise News)

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