The head of Nigeria’s electoral body has cautioned citizens to manage their expectations ahead of the 2027 general elections, stating that a “100 per cent perfect” vote may not be possible. Professor Joash Amupitan, chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), said that while the commission is committed to excellence, logistical and technical realities remain a challenge.
Speaking at a televised town hall meeting on Sunday, Prof Amupitan addressed lingering concerns over the transparency of the country’s voting system.”I have noticed now that what Nigerians desire is a perfect election,” he said. “However, we may not be able to achieve a 100 per cent perfect election for now.”
The ‘Real-Time’ Challenge
A central point of contention in Nigerian politics has been the electronic transmission of results. While Prof Amupitan assured the public that INEC has the capacity to transmit results electronically, he flagged “real-time” delivery as the primary hurdle.
To illustrate the difficulty, he cited recent local elections in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT):
Infrastructure: In some rural areas, polling officials had to travel over three hours through difficult terrain.
Communication: Security and election teams in remote wards were completely unreachable by phone, meaning results could not be uploaded until they physically returned to collation centres the following day.”The moment they entered that place, we could not reach them. They were not accessible by phone,” the chairman explained.
New Legal Framework
The discussion comes following the introduction of the Electoral Act 2026. Prof Amupitan revealed that the commission pushed for the electronic transmission of results to be made mandatory within the new law. The town hall featured a rare gathering of Nigeria’s political heavyweights, including:Nentawe Yilwatda, National Chairman of the governing APC, Nenadi Usman, Interim Chair of the Labour Party, Oby Ezekwesili, former Minister and prominent activist.
The 2027 elections will be a major test for Africa’s largest democracy, which has faced repeated scrutiny over the speed and transparency of its vote-counting process.”The ignorance of a voter is very inimical to the security of a nation,” Prof Amupitan added, quoting Abraham Lincoln to emphasise the need for civic education
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