As Nigeria looks ahead to the 2027 general elections, the spotlight is once again on the country’s electoral umpire – the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). Headed by Professor Joash Ojo. Amupitan, a profesasor of Law and a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), there are high expectations from Nigerians that INEC should get it right with the next general elections and restore public confidence after a cycle of disputed polls and protracted legal battles.
Thankfully, our electoral laws have gone through some reforms especially with the obvious lapses seen in the 2023 general elections.
The amended electoral law—backed by new operational guidelines from INEC—is being presented as a structural cure for longstanding weaknesses in voter accreditation, result transmission, party primaries, and campaign finance. Yet, as with many Nigerian reforms, the central question is not the quality of the law but the sincerity of its implementation.
At the heart of the reforms is the institutionalization of technology in the voting and result collation processes. The Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), electronic transmission of results, and the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV) are now embedded more firmly in the legal framework.
If deployed effectively in 2027, these tools could:
– Limit multiple voting and ballot stuffing
+ Reduce human interference in result collation and
+ Enable real-time public verification of results
For a country where allegations of “midnight result rewriting” have shaped electoral narratives, digital transparency could significantly narrow the space for manipulation.
However, past elections have shown that technology alone cannot guarantee credibility. System glitches, uneven connectivity in rural areas, and operational inconsistencies remain big challenges. This is why INEC must not wait till 2027 to plan. The Commission should use the forthcoming off-cycle elections in Ekiti and Osun States to test-run all its facilities and the new electoral laws.
Another prominent provision of the new law is the tighter regulation of party primaries. INEC’s enhanced oversight and stricter timelines for candidate substitution are designed to curb the imposition of candidates—an entrenched practice that has fueled intra-party crises and post-election litigations.
INEC should use its supervisory powers to make sure political parties conduct more transparent primaries, resolve disputes internally before general elections, and reduce the number of court-ordered candidacies. Already, this is yielding positive results going by the outcomes of some primary elections conducted by the ruling All Progressive Congress recently.
If strictly enforced by INEC, this could shift Nigeria’s political culture from elite selection to competitive internal democracy.
The introduction of spending limits and disclosure requirements in the electoral laws is geared towards curbing the influence of money politics. In theory, this could level the playing field for smaller parties, reduce vote buying, and improve accountability in political financing. However, in practice, Nigeria’s weak enforcement mechanisms have historically undermined similar provisions. Without transparent monitoring and sanctions, the monetization of elections is unlikely to disappear. This is why INEC must collaborate with the relevant regulatory and law enforcement agencies such as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Nigeria Police to ensure compliance and possible punishment for violators of the law.
The legal backing for early publication of election timetables offers INEC more room for logistic planning, voter education, and procurement. This could reduce the last-minute crises that have characterized previous elections.
For voters, clearer timelines may translate into better awareness of registration and transfer windows, improved participation rates, and fewer procedural disputes on election day.
Another area that INEC should pay close attention to is security of lives and materials during the polls. Nigeria has a history of high rate of electoral violence although the new electoral law has included stiffer penalties for thuggery, ballot snatching, vote buying, and result falsification. Therefore, to supervise credible elections in 2027, INEC in conjunction with the security agencies must ensure swift arrest and trial of electoral offenders
INEC should also ensure absolute neutrality in all matters affecting political parties especially court cases. The recent accusation by the African Democratic Congress that INEC was taking sides in its internal disputes is not good for our democracy. As a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Prof. Amupitan must ensure he uses his wealth of experience and education to interpret judicial pronouncements and judgements correctly, and when in doubt, should consult widely before taking a decision. A situation where political parties will be calling for his resignation even before the main elections sends a wrong signal to the public and the international community.
The 2027 general elections no doubt will be a litmus test for INEC and its new management team.
While this Newspaper appreciates the significant milestone achieved by our law makers by providing a new electoral framework that guarantees a legal foundation for credible elections, we warn the electoral umpire that laws do not conduct elections—institutions and political actors do.
The 2027 general election will therefore serve as a referendum not only on political parties and candidates but on INEC’s capacity to translate legal reform into democratic practice. The Commission must put its house in order, faithfully implement the electoral reforms and deliver what could be Nigeria’s most credible election since 1999.
For Nigeria’s democracy, 2027 is not just another election—it is a test of whether we are ready to chat a new course as a nation or continue in our old tradition of fraudulent and manipulated elections.