By Ihechukwu Madubuike
Nigerian elections are marred and characterised by massive irregularities, rigging , intimidation, ballot snatching, voter intimidation, name them. Voting is not just enough. It is an important civic duty. Peoples votes must count.
Peter Obi Is not the first to observe the gaps, the increasing frustration of voters and the shrinking democracy space.. But he has made it an issue. Candidates for public office, with brilliant manifestos and good intentions will see their opportunities come to ruins, if there is no true and credible election in Nigeria. The trust deficit must be closed.
Hence the recurring phrase in Obi’s recent interviews remains and encapsules the malady — “We are only asking for a free and fair election” — is not rhetorical. It reflects a legitimacy deficit documented after 2023, when INEC’s failure to upload results in real time created what manipulators called a glitch and opponents called a fraud, a deliberate technical challenge. For the civil and the academic communities the task is to move from complaint to enforceable design.
This paper proposes five pillars, drawing from lessons of global ethics of provenance and AI ethics of verification. Obi is not frugal in identify the culprits. They include INEC, the organising election agency; the Professor who announces false results, justifying the rigging process; the judiciary which stands on the mandate of those who set it up, and of course the political class. Here are other opposition views on the 2027 election and they have their reasons:
“For us in the ADC, the credibility of the 2027 elections must be non negotiable. We expect the electoral process to be transparent, inclusive, peaceful and free from manipulation , intimidation and the abuse of state institutions” – David Mark ADC National Chairman.
For Malam Bolaji Abdullahi, ADC National Publicity Secretary: “The challenge is: Will there be a fair and free election? We are ready for that. We are ready for anything”.
From Opposition leaders coalition Communique, 2026 – “That the INEC Chairman, Prof Joash Ojo Amupitan, having shown bias and partisanship in favour of the ruling APC, should not conduct the 2027 general election as Nigerians across board have lost confidence in him and his capacity to guarantee the required neutrality to deliver free, fair, transparent elections”.
From Labour Party/Obedient Movement:
“Rivers State belongs to its people. The Federal Capital Territory belongs to the Nigerian people. Neither belongs to Wike, Tinubu, the APC or any political godfather. Nigerians alone have the conditional right to determine who governs them through fair, free and credible elections”.
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP): “Whenever INEC is ready for the elections, the PDP will be ready provided it can guarantee free, fair and credible elections”.
New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) spokesperson Ladipo Johnson avers: “While early planning is important public confidence would rest on INEC’s willingness to demonstrate “technological integrity” and operational openness, and call for real-time electronic transmission of results to restore faith”.
These quotes show consensus and reflect the apprehensions of Nigerians across party affiliations and civil society. The opposition accepts INEC’s exclusive power to declare results, but conditions for acceptance on non-negotiable credibility, transparency, and technological integrity .
Here are five points that can remedy the legitimacy deficit bedevilling the electoral process in the Nigerian context.
One: Provenance of Results – From Polling Unit to Portal
Every ballot must have traceable origin. BVAS accreditation data, polling unit Form EC8A, and IReV upload must share a cryptographic hash and timestamp, stored offline and online. Like preserving excavation notes and field recordings, no result should exist without metadata.
INEC must publish polling unit results in machine-readable format within 2 hours, and not scanned PDFs days later. Failure to upload must automatically trigger audited recount, not press statement.
Two: Distance of the Umpire – Institutional Independence
The critic must distance himself from text to achieve objectivity. INEC must distance itself from the Executive arm of government. And we propose as follows: Chairman and RECs to be appointed by a multi-stakeholder panel such as the Chief Justice of the Federation, members of the academia represented by ASUU,. The legal luminaries ( NBA), and the workers union (NLC), and,of course, the National Assembly, including the opposition. These bodies should be involved in the constitution of the electoral body – not the President alone.
INEC budget should be as a first-line charge on Consolidated Revenue, as the judiciary. It is worrisome that three months to election and the umpire is still complaining of lack of funds. Poverty leads to compromise, and lack of independence. Without distance, no credibility. There are foul plays when the field of play is uneven and the goal posts not properly located.
Three: Explainability – No Glitch Without Audit.The 2023 glitches have not been explained and doubts persist.
In Isuama wisdom, if a toad runs in the afternoon, ask why. If technology fails, ask why. And every why deserves a comprehensive answer. That is exactly the position of Ladipo Johnson of the NNPP. Every BVAS failure or IReV downtime must produce public technical audit within 72 hours, with logs released to accredited independent computer science departments, not just INEC IT staff. This mirrors our AI Rule 3: preserve prompts and due process.
Four: Demand-Driven Campaigns – Nigerians Set the Agenda
Obi’s NDC town hall model – “Nigerians should determine issues politicians campaign on” is a slogan that should be institutionalised. The saying that politics is a serious issue that should not be left to politicians alone is true. National debates should be moderated by universities and professional bodies, with questions crowd sourced from our six zones, and broadcast in national and local languages. End of glossy manifestos imposed top-down. This restores the voter as principal, and employer and politician as agent and obedient servant.
Five: Security and Inclusion as Prerequisites, Not Afterthought
A voter who cannot travel to Kaduna for fear of kidnapping cannot vote. If NYSC students can be kidnapped and their traducers escaped or cannot be traced, what of ordinary voters without identity. Security plan must be in place days before election, with safe corridors. Also, diaspora voting and prison voting pilots should be mandatory. INEC must publish security incidents in real time, as it publishes results. Insecurity prevents participation and leads to poor voter turn out.
A presidential candidate like Peter Obi himself is highly apprehensive on this score. Security plan remains a sine qua non – a prerequisite for a credible election. Twice or more this year threats against his security have been in the public spaces, and these threats by high placed players in the political space have not been denied. We are yet to see serious rebuttals or consequences from those who should protect him.
If Obi, a high profile player in Nigeria’s chequered political space cannot be protected how can the ordinary citizen be? Obi has complained publicly, including on the Arise Television, that he is not sure he would be alive to participate in the 2027 presidential election. This is serious. Every presidential candidate should enjoy protection by the State. But why target Obi and make it a persecution?
Obi is not just a candidate; he has become a symptom, if not a symbol of youth exclusion. Whether he wins 2027 or not, the academic community and the civic public must document complaints and work for enforceable electoral and global, ethical electoral ethical framework. This framework makes election verifiable like a bibliography. If you claim you won Lagos, show form EC8A.
Final Remarks
Peter Obi, like other opposition candidates, did not invent distrust; he harvests it. Whether he contests and wins in 2027 under NDC or another platform is less important academically and socially than what his movement reveals: The Nigerian youth have moved from apathy to audit.
They now ask for receipts — of Anambra accounts, of campaign promises, of EC8A forms, of what happened in the Federal Capital Territory in 2023 and the judicial interpretation of it.
The civic public and the academic community’s duty is not to declare Obi saint or cult or the other candidates, but to provide the language and framework to make that audit possible. From Ugwuele tools to AI to the ballot, the principle is identical: sharp tools need handle, assistance needs acknowledgement, election needs provenance.And we pray that long will live the a renascent Republic.
Madubuike, PhD, a former of Minister for Health, released this statement in
ABUJA , on 14 October 2026
References
Pulse Nigeria, March 2026. Obi alleges 2027 block.
Punch NG, Sept 2026. Obi asks Nigerians to drive campaign agenda.
Business Day NG. Obi-dients and new consciousness.
TheConclave NG. Record fuels rise.
