INEC Vows Transparent, Stronger Elections in 2027 Amid Court Backlash

INEC Vows Transparent, Stronger Elections in 2027 Amid Court Backlash

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared it will step up efforts to make Nigeria’s 2027 general elections more transparent and trustworthy.

It made this promise while responding to a recent report highlighting the outcomes of legal battles that followed the 2023 elections. The report, titled “From Ballot to the Court”, points out how many election results were challenged but very few were actually overturned.

INEC chairman, Professor Mahmoud Yakubu, spoke through the Commission’s Director of Litigation and Prosecution, Tanimu Inuwa, at the official presentation of the report in Abuja on Wednesday.

He welcomed the report and praised the Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre (PLAC) for compiling it. According to him, INEC is not afraid of public scrutiny. In fact, he said it helps the commission improve.

“We are not running from criticism. We welcome it. It helps us grow and shows our commitment to democracy,” Yakubu said.

He stressed that Nigeria’s democracy is a work in progress, but the Commission is working daily to make elections better. He also said the growing success rate of some petitions is a sign of improvement in Nigeria’s electoral process.

“The Commission will do its best come 2027 to have a credible, reliable election,” Yakubu said.

The report, funded by the European Union, analysed a total of 895 cases filed after the 2023 elections at the Election Petition Tribunal. Out of those, only 11.1 percent succeeded. A whopping 88.9 percent were dismissed.

At the Court of Appeal level, the pattern remained the same. Out of 588 appeals reviewed, just 20.9 percent were successful.

That means only about 1 in every 5 appeals managed to convince the courts to overturn or adjust election results.

Professor Yakubu said this shows one thing clearly: there is a need to improve how election disputes are handled.

“We must take a closer look at how our electoral justice system works. The number of failed petitions shows that most people are not winning their cases,” he added.

This raises some key questions. Are the petitions poorly prepared? Is the evidence weak? Or is the system simply too rigid for genuine complaints to succeed?

The report doesn’t shy away from such questions. It dives deep into the challenges, pointing out that the judiciary now plays a critical role in elections.

PLAC’s Executive Director, Clement Nwankwo, said judges now decide the fate of many elections in Nigeria—sometimes more than the ballot box does.

“The judiciary has become a very critical component of election management in Nigeria,” Nwankwo said.

But he also warned that this isn’t necessarily a good thing. He said it’s dangerous for any democracy to rely too much on the courts to decide who wins elections.

He described the increase in post-election lawsuits as “a worrying trend,” calling it a reflection of the public’s growing lack of trust in the electoral system.

If people felt their votes truly counted, they might not rush to the courts every time there’s an election. But right now, many think the only way to get justice is through legal action.

He recommended a full review of the laws guiding elections and electoral disputes in Nigeria.

Some of the report’s other recommendations include:

• Stronger training for judges handling election disputes.
• Clearer guidelines for filing and resolving petitions.
• More transparency from INEC in result collation and transmission.
• Better voter education to reduce unrealistic expectations.
• Professor Yakubu also noted another trend: elections are becoming tighter.
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He said the gap between winners and losers is no longer as wide as it used to be. In many races, especially in National and State Assemblies, the difference between the winner and the runner-up was very slim.

“You will notice that the difference is very thin. It is not as bogus as it used to be,” he said.

This narrowing gap shows that every vote counts more than ever. But it also means tensions are higher. The closer the race, the more likely people are to feel cheated.

That’s why, Yakubu said, it’s important for INEC to gain the public’s trust. If voters trust the process, they’re less likely to reject the outcome.

INEC, he promised, will keep working with civil society organisations like PLAC to make that trust possible.

The Commission also reaffirmed its commitment to partnerships that bring new ideas, fresh insights, and credible criticism.

“The Commission is open to working with all stakeholders who genuinely want to improve the system,” he said.

For its part, PLAC said the goal of the report is to push for reforms before 2027. Nwankwo stressed that election matters should be resolved quickly and fairly, and that only judges with deep knowledge of election law should handle those cases.

He pointed to examples from the 2023 election season where unclear judgments caused confusion. He also said some decisions appeared to contradict earlier ones, making it hard to trust the system.

The report concludes that while Nigeria’s democracy is improving, it still has a long way to go. One area in urgent need of reform is the election petition system.

Too many people still believe that the best way to win an election is to fight in court, not at the polls. That’s a bad sign.

Also, when petitions fail in large numbers, it raises another fear—that the system is too complex, or too closed off, for ordinary citizens to find justice.

Ultimately, both INEC and PLAC agree that the next two years will be crucial. There must be real change before the 2027 elections.

That includes law reforms, smarter training for judges, and, perhaps most important of all, an election process that Nigerians can believe in.

Because at the end of the day, democracy is not just about voting—it’s about trust. And trust must be earned.