Anambra Central Senator, Victor Umeh, has said Nigerian courts should not determine the outcome of elections, insisting that votes cast by citizens must count in deciding who wins.
Umeh made the remarks on Monday while reacting to a call by the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) presidential candidate, Peter Obi, for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to ensure that votes count in the 2027 general elections.
Obi had, over the weekend, urged INEC to ensure that the votes of Nigerians are properly counted and reflected in the final results of the election.
Speaking during an interview on Channels Television on Monday, Umeh backed Obi’s position, stressing that the electoral process must be free, fair and credible.
According to the senator, voters must be allowed to freely make their choices, with the results recorded in the prescribed forms and used to determine the eventual winners.
Umeh said the call was informed by past experiences where voters allegedly cast their ballots for particular candidates only for different results to be announced.
He argued that merely promising credible elections would not be enough, insisting that electoral authorities must take concrete steps to protect the integrity of the ballot.
The senator said, “The only way to enhance and protect the sanctity of the ballot box is by ensuring that the votes of the electorate count in determining who wins the election.”
Umeh also criticised the practice of announcing disputed results and directing aggrieved candidates to seek redress in court.
He said voters should not be called upon to participate in elections only for the outcome to be determined through allegedly manipulated results and subsequent court cases.
“It’s not about people being called out again in 2027; they will make their choices, cast their votes, and in the end you announce fake results and ask anybody who feels bad about the result to go to court. The court should not determine the outcome of elections,” he said.
Umeh further described as troubling the political culture in which some politicians allegedly enter elections determined to secure victory regardless of the votes they receive.
He said candidates who lose at the ballot box should not be replaced by those who seek to win through manipulation of the electoral process.
“It’s a very bad culture in Nigeria that people will go into an election with the mindset that they will be declared winner at all costs, whether they receive the votes or not, and ask the people who actually won the election but were denied to go to court,” he said.
The senator maintained that ensuring that every vote is accurately counted and recorded would help restore public confidence in Nigeria’s electoral system ahead of the 2027 elections.
