In Nigeria, this agitation has grown strong since the 2023 general election with citizens saying “we will be the INEC, we will photograph and report polling unit results ourselves” especially for presidential election.
It is happening again now, ahead of 2027.
Here is what it means and the implications:
What citizens are pledging:
Polling unit-level documentation: Take photos/videos of Form EC8A (result sheet) after counting at the polling unit.
Parallel reporting: Upload to WhatsApp, X, Facebook, or dedicated platforms like Yiaga Africa, Situation Room, or personal citizen portals.
Real-time collation: Citizen tally to compare with INEC’s IReV portal results.
This grew out of distrust after 2023 when IReV failed to upload presidential results in real-time, BVAS issues, and claims of result alteration at ward and local government collation centers.
Positive implications if done well:
Deterrence: When party agents, observers, and ordinary voters are all filming EC8A, it is harder for anyone to change figures at the collation center
The polling unit is the only place where actual counting happens in law.
Evidence for petition:Electoral Act 2022 Section 64 and INEC guidelines say the polling unit result is primary.
Citizen photos have been used as evidence in tribunal cases to prove over-voting.
Civic engagement: More young people staying till the end, understanding Form EC8A, EC8B, etc., not just voting and leaving.
Pressure on INEC: Forces INEC to make IReV work and to stick to Section 60(5) which says presiding officer must upload results.
Negative / risky implications if not structured:
Legal standing: Under Nigerian law, only INEC can announce results (Constitution Section 158, Electoral Act 2022 Section 60).
A citizen announcement has no legal force.
INEC chairman is the sole returning officer for presidential election.
If citizens announce a winner on social media before INEC, it creates parallel governments and can trigger violence – as seen in 2023 with many fake results trending.
Misinformation risk: A photo of EC8A can be forged, cropped, or from a previous election. Without training, people can post wrong PU numbers. This creates confusion and can be used by politicians to claim they won early.
Security risk: Obstructing collation, confronting INEC staff, or insisting on announcing results inside the polling unit is an electoral offence under Section 128 of the Electoral Act.
People have been arrested for snatching or destroying result sheets while trying to protect them.
Vigilantism: Pledge to “defend votes by any means” can quickly turn into mob action at collation centers.
Trust erosion: If citizen collation differs from INEC due to simple data entry errors (e.g., typing 120 instead of 12), people will believe INEC rigged even when it did not.
What the law actually allows:
You are legally allowed as a citizen to:
Stay and observe counting after voting (if peaceful)
Take photos of EC8A after it is pasted at the polling unit – INEC guideline says it must be pasted
Report to accredited observers
You are NOT allowed to:
Declare official results
Interfere with the presiding officer, BVAS, or take the EC8A
Announce results at the collation center without accreditation
Practical implication for 2027:
This agitation shows Nigerians no longer trust only INEC – they want citizen verification.
The implication is that 2027 will be the most photographed election in Nigerian history.
If INEC embraces it – by making IReV actually work in real-time, allowing party agents to get signed copies of EC8A, and prosecuting anyone who alters results – it will build trust.
If INEC resists it, or if citizens use it to push fake results, it could lead to more post-election litigation, protests, and the kind of two winners announced crisis Nigeria has seen before.
The key is organization: Unorganized individual reporting noise.
Organized reporting through accredited observers like Yiaga Africa’s Watching The Vote with trained methodology will be credible evidence that tribunals will accept.
– Benjamin Ibrahim writes from Lokoja, Kogi state.
+2348069596250
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