Civil society group Yiaga Africa has called on Nigeria to raise the bar in its electoral processes, stressing that it is no longer enough for elections to be merely peaceful they must also inspire public trust and confidence.
Speaking during a televised interview, Cynthia Mbamalu, Programme Director at Yiaga Africa, said recent by-elections were relatively calm, but deeper issues still plague the system, particularly around the transparency and credibility of result management.
“Overall, it was a relatively peaceful process except for some constituencies in some states where there were issues of thugs trying to disrupt the process at some polling units,” Mbamalu said. “But we need to move beyond just having a peaceful process to one that can actually inspire trust in the system.”
Result Management in the Spotlight
Mbamalu highlighted growing concerns around how election results are collated and managed, noting that while the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has laid out provisions for electronic collation in its official guidelines, practical implementation remains inconsistent.
“The truth is, the electoral commission had in its guidelines provided for result management including electronic collation but the challenge lies in how effectively those procedures are applied,” she explained.
She added that issues such as overvoting and ballot cancellations often leave voters confused and erode confidence in the outcome.
Beyond Peace — Focus on Compliance and Integrity
Mbamalu stressed that the benchmark for elections should no longer be whether they are peaceful, but whether they uphold democratic standards and the rule of law.
“The bigger question when it comes to elections is no longer saying it was relatively peaceful because peace should be a given,” she said. “The real issue is compliance: are we following the rules? Are we upholding the process with integrity?”
Political Desperation Undermining Progress
She also pointed fingers at political parties, accusing them of being complicit in undermining electoral integrity through desperation to win at all costs.
“Parties must take responsibility for how they have sabotaged the process. Despite efforts to strengthen INEC’s independence and encourage voter participation, the political class continues to pose one of the biggest threats to democratic progress.”
Mbamalu warned that even as civil society and reform advocates work to improve Nigeria’s electoral framework, political actors often deploy tactics that reverse hard-won democratic gains.
