Ahead of the 2027 general elections, the National Assembly has been warned that failure to implement comprehensive electoral reforms could undermine the credibility of the polls and erode public confidence in Nigeria’s democratic process.
The warning was issued by the Movement for Credible Elections (MCE) during its inaugural steering committee meeting held in Lagos on Monday.
Speaking on behalf of the coalition, Dr. Usman Bugaje, a leading member of the committee, urged lawmakers to urgently amend the Electoral Act 2022 to address loopholes that weaken transparency, accountability and the integrity of election outcomes.
Bugaje stressed that critical provisions relating to voter accreditation, result collation, electronic transmission and declaration of results must be clarified and strengthened to eliminate discretionary powers that could be exploited for manipulation.
“The MCE, a national coalition of civic groups and citizens, formally calls on the leadership of the National Assembly — both the Senate and the House of Representatives — to prioritise far-reaching and non-negotiable reforms in the ongoing harmonisation of electoral reform bills ahead of the 2027 elections,” he said.
He criticised the removal of provisions mandating the electronic collation and transmission of results, describing the move as a deliberate attempt to preserve opportunities for interference between polling units and final collation centres.
According to him, such gaps create avenues for rigging and distort the true will of voters.
Bugaje further called for an independent audit of the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) technological infrastructure, including the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IREV), data storage systems, cybersecurity architecture and backup mechanisms.
He said the audit should be carried out by credible, independent experts and concluded well ahead of the 2027 elections to avoid last-minute excuses, technical failures or system compromises.
“MCE affirms that electronic transmission must be complemented by verifiable safeguards that allow results transmitted electronically to be cross-checked with polling unit records,” he said.
He also recommended that Nigeria explore the introduction of a Voters Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT), similar to the system used in India, to further strengthen transparency and voter confidence.
“Democracy dies when votes are stolen. It is time to end electoral rigging in Nigeria,” Bugaje added.
The group maintained that credible elections remain the foundation of national stability and warned that without urgent reforms, the legitimacy of the 2027 general elections could be called into question.
