The Independent National Electoral Commission has assured Nigerians that every vote will count in the 2027 general elections, even as it said it was commited to strengthening the country’s democratic process.
INEC Deputy Director of Voter Education and Planning, Mrs Magdalene Aku, gave the assurance on Wednesday in Abuja at a democracy roundtable organised by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ).
Speaking on the theme, “Making Nigeria’s Vote Count in 2027: The Role of INEC,” Aku said ensuring that votes count was not merely a slogan but a commitment to making sure the choices of voters were reflected in election outcomes.
She described voters as the “ultimate kingmakers” in a constitutional democracy, stressing that the commission’s primary responsibility was to protect the will of the electorate rather than determine who wins or loses elections.
“For INEC, making your vote count is not just a slogan; it is the bedrock of our democracy, and we always try to ensure that we put in the right processes, the right tools to ensure that every individual’s vote counts.
“Our focus is on the Nigerian voters. We do not care about the person who wins or loses the election; it is on the Nigerian voter, and that’s why we’re always placing a premium on the voter to recognise the fact that you are the kingmaker,” she said.
Aku highlighted the commission’s adoption of technology to improve the credibility of elections and curb electoral fraud, citing the transition from Smart Card Readers to the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), as well as the real-time upload of polling unit results through the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal.
She added that transparency begins at the polling unit, where results recorded on Form EC8A are displayed publicly before being transmitted electronically, enabling voters and other stakeholders to verify the poll’s outcome.
(Ripples)