One uncanny feature that defines Nigeria’s evolving democracy is the overplay of politics, electioneering and overt quest for power on governance and practical administrative inputs which can directly translate into developmental strides and transformation of lives.
Hardly had the wounds inflicted on the collective psyche by the 2023 elections fault lines taken the healing path than the polity began to be heated up once again with news of political realignments towards the next election year, 2027.
Some of the moves actually smacks of calculation bordering on power grab, dramatisation of greed and inordinacy and not due demonstration of passionate desire for service towards common good.
Now, the election dates are barely one year away and the political moves and maneuvers are intensifying into uncouth desperation and deafening altercations masked as consultations. The people are obviously taken for granted. Of the four-year tenure presidents, governors and legislators are voted in for, not up to a full year is dedicated to governance, the rest are for politics and electioneering. When really do the people feel the impact of the government that is supposed to serve their interest? The activities from the Senate, the presentation from INEC, all go to confirm 2026 as being the year of high wired politics while 2027 remains Nigeria’s date with history to either get it right this time around in leadership reformatory trajectory or remain absurdly deep in the miasma of national delusion and collective amnesia all in the name of a Nigerian variant of democracy. Between the El-Rufais and Rotimi Amechis of this world who have vowed not to sleep until the Tinubu led Federal Government is booted out of office and the Akpabios and Wikes who want the current dispensation perpetuated by whatever twist or turn, are Nigerians who just earnestly desire an opportunity to determine who governs them through a free and fair electoral process.
The national electoral umpire, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in pursuant to achieving this goal, last week Thursday, informed the National Assembly that it requires nearly N1 trillion for 2027 elections. The breakdown comes as follows: N873.78 billion to conduct the 2027 general elections and N171 billion to fund the remaining off- season elections in Osun and Ekiti States, alongside the Federal Capital Territory election and by-elections. This is even as INEC has announced 20 February 2027 for presidential poll and 6 March for governorship amidst the growing controversy over the mode of election results transmission from the polling booths to INEC’s IReV portal. According to the Senate, Form EC8A remains a fallback when technology fails. This hybrid provision, resort to premeditated duality and ambiguity, the people fear, will give room to ambivalence and pandering to technicalities in defense of imminent electoral fraud that clearly perverts the expressed will of the people.
All these self-deluding maneuvers in the face of humongous public resources committed into electoral processes speak volume about a people’s penchant for collective amnesia and deluding miasma. Nigerians are still taken aback on how the Senate President chose to be the advocate for INEC, explaining with so much zeal and zest, how the electoral body lacks the capacity to deliver on technology driven electoral process. What remains clearly inexplicable to many Nigerians is why this level of resources will be committed to a system that is prone to errors and system glitches and programmed failings.
According to INEC, the N873.78 billion proposed for the 2027 elections represents a significant increase from the N313.4 billion released by the Federal Government for the conduct of the 2023 general election. How possible is it for a country to commit such resources into an electoral process and still not be sincerely committed to how the process can work towards the deepening of democratic tenets, ethos and culture. Is it by any means possible that even our supposed symbols of democracy are themselves working against its very essence, an electoral process through which the people can freely vote and have their choices duly validated?
According to Amupitan, the N873.78 billion election budget covers the full conduct of the 2027 general elections, while the N171 billion proposal for 2026 is to support routine activities, including by-elections and off-season polls.
N379.75 billion represent operational costs, N92.32 billion for administrative costs, N209.21 billion for technological costs, N154.91 billion for election capital costs and N42.61 billion for miscellaneous expenses.
The chairman identified the absence of a dedicated communications network as a major operational challenge, adding that if the commission develops its own network infrastructure, Nigerians would be better positioned to hold it accountable for any technical disruptions.
That in some ways sets the stage for what Nigerians are to witness in 2027 elections. What is the use of an INEC that cannot be held accountable for the conduct of elections it is constitutionally empowered to conduct?
While Nigerians are clamouring for Real-time transmission of election results, the Senate insists this is only possible with an e-voting system which INEC appears not to be ready for.
Whether we call it upload, transfer, or transmission, Nigerians want their votes to count and also register in INEC’s IReV which must be in use and configured not to fail. INEC must consciously work towards regaining the trust of the people. It makes no sense committing this enormous level of public resources into an electoral process that people will not participate in because of deepening lack of trust. Of the 93,469,008 Nigerians that registered in the 2023 elections, only 26.71 per cent turned out to vote. President Tinubu was declared winner with 8,794,726 votes (36.61%). That considered in the context of a population of over 250,000,000 is not an encouraging testimony for our democracy. The Senate and INEC should not give Nigerians more reasons to hibernate deeper into political apathy. Democracy is about the people. Remove them from the equation and all you have left is hollow rituals that gulp public resources without reflecting the expressed will of the people. Such rituals often end up as facades that cannot be sustained.
Meanwhile all across the country, attention appears to have shifted from governance to electioneering across various levels of government. That this is happening even when the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has not officially signaled the commencement of campaigns makes one continue to wonder if there are rules guiding the political space and activities in Nigeria. Democracy in Nigeria should be allowed to serve the interest of the people and not the greed of a few.
