The Director of Programmes, YAIGA Africa, Cynthia Mbamalu, has assessed the Ekiti State governorship election, noting that while there were signs of progress in the electoral process, significant work still needs to be done ahead of the 2027 general elections to strengthen its credibility and effectiveness.
“At the outset, I’ll say it’s a mix. It’s an improvement, however, it calls us to certain actions to strengthen our process. And that is because the bigger question of integrity—especially integrity of choice—is a major challenge in these particular elections. And so, it means that there’s a lot of work to be done,” she highlighted.
Mbamalu noted that many Nigerians have become accustomed to electoral shortcomings, describing a pattern where irregularities are often accepted as normal as long as elections are peaceful and free from overt violence. She stressed the need for higher standards if the country’s democracy is to function effectively.
“We have normalized impunity and we’ve normalized anomalies in our elections. A lot of times, I think a lot of Nigerians, we’ve gotten so used to mediocrity in our process and our systems. We need to hold ourselves to a higher standard, a more stringent standard, if our democracy would work,” she stated.
Expressing concern over the integrity of voter choice, Mbamalu said that although BVAS and IReV improved transparency and reduced manipulation in results transmission, broader questions about the electoral process still remain.
“I think one thing we could take from this election, which is a positive for me, is that our processes are getting better. For instance, the deployment of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and the use of the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV) are important electoral technologies that limit multiple voting, for instance, and ensure some level of transparency in the result process. The question now is the integrity of choice,” she noted.
Cautioning against generalising Ekiti State’s experience to national elections, Mbamalu said INEC may face greater challenges due to scale, competition, and existing operational gaps in the electoral process.
“Ekiti is one of the small states in Nigeria. We had about 2,445 polling units, and registered voters were about 1,059,000. You can’t compare that with the national elections. I think the first part is the management of logistics and issues around consistency when it comes to the process. The second for me was around the rules on the result transmission. Most times, when it’s not competitive, you don’t have a lot of objections.
“Let’s move this to national elections: more competition, stronger opposition contesting, every little aspect of the election will be under scrutiny. And so for me, one of the things we’ve learned from this election is that INEC needs to strengthen its oversight system to ensure due diligence when it comes to consistency on the electoral materials—the ballot paper and the result sheet.
“The second is the application of the rules, especially as it relates to electronic transmission of results, because that has been a contentious issue. If you ask me, the third part is with respect to administration. These are important administrative gaps that need to be addressed,” she highlighted.
Addressing vote buying in Nigeria, Mbamalu said that despite improvements in electoral administration, money politics continues to undermine voter choice, driven by poverty and political manipulation that weakens democratic participation.
“Technically, we are strengthening our process. We are hoping our elections meet specific standards, all we call integrity tests. However, when it comes to the participation itself, we have seen a decline in citizens’ enthusiasm first to engage the electoral process, but we have seen a deliberate effort by the political class to undermine the integrity of the process by deploying money as a tool of belittling the choice of the voter, because that for me is what happens.
“Because we operate in a system where there is high levels of over-poverty, unemployment, and a big disconnect between the government and the people, some of the voters you meet in the field tell you, ‘This is the only time you get anything from government.’ Our political class, they are becoming the major threat to our democracy because the constant impoverishment of the people have limited the freedom of choice when it comes to competition. But secondly, our political institution, political parties are not built as institutions of democracy,” she lamented.
Outlining how electoral malpractice can be curbed, Mbamalu called for stronger enforcement, better-trained security personnel, and greater neutrality, alongside accountability through arrests and prosecutions to deter impunity.
“I think it is a question of training and capacity of the personnel deployed. We need a lot more neutral deployment of security personnel. And then secondly, when there is an attempt to protect a power, or a party in power, or to have partisan leanings, it also limits your tendencies to enforce the law. And moving forward towards elections, the Nigerian police needs to understand that they are an important agent when it comes to elections.”
Calling for stronger oversight and clearer guidelines, Mbamalu said the use of printed slips instead of PVCs exposed gaps in enforcement and the need for consistent application of electoral rules across polling units.
“That just shows a bit of lapse in the system. We need the Electoral Commission to strengthen its oversight system, but most importantly, clarity in these rules and ensuring that there is some level of uniformity of practice,” she said.
Highlighting key lessons for INEC, security agencies, and political parties ahead of the 2027 elections, the YIAGA Africa executive called for clearer rules, professional and neutral enforcement, and issue-based campaigns free from vote buying to strengthen Nigeria’s democracy.
“I will start with the Electoral Commission; we want to see clarity in the rules and better consistency with the administrative procedure and the logistics management, especially when it comes to the rules on election day.
“For the security agencies, we need to see a more neutral and professional deployment, but a deployment that truly enforces the law and arrests electoral offenders.
“With the political parties, we just need them to behave better. And moneys, the idea of sharing money or distributing money for votes, for me is evil, because that just goes to the heart of our democracy. You undermine the democracy. We need better competition, but most importantly, we want parties to showcase their ability through their manifestos and reach out to voters. We want to see parties invest in voter mobilization, voter education, engage in campaigns based on the issues, and focus on delivering good governance.
Nigerians are hungry, Nigerians are angry and frustrated, and Nigerians are giving up on Nigeria. The only way to reinspire faith and hope in our democracy is to have better governance, quality leadership, and delivery of good goods and services to the people,” Mbamalu concluded.
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