2027: because the interested parties should familiarize himself with the guidelines – Paaca

As the preparations for the General Elections of 2027 begin, the Nigerians and in particular the parties concerned in the electoral process were invited to familiarize yourself with innovations, reforms and electoral guidelines introduced by the independent national electoral commission (INC) rather than affording to be missed.

The call was made in a one -day town meeting organized by the Defense and Reception Avocation Center in Africa (Paaca) in Sokoto to raise awareness of the key actors on electoral reforms and improve the education of voters towards credible elections.

The meeting organized with the support of the MacArthur Foundation has brought together key representatives of the security agencies, media, civil society organizations and other interested parties.

In his opening observations, the executive director of Paaca, Ezenwa Nwagwu, underlined the need to fill the gaps on knowledge on key innovations and the electoral guidelines by Incen to counter the widespread disinformation, especially when the country is preparing to enter the political seasons.

He underlined the need for a discussion on the evidence -based elections, explaining that the elections are guided by the laws. He urged the parties interested in studying these laws to consciously commit himself into electoral matters, rather than relying on disinformation.

He underlined how politicians often outward citizens and how mistreated media narratives sometimes worsen in the system, observing that democratic consolidation requires citizens, political parties and institutions to remain vigilant and informed.

“Ninety percent of crimes during the elections is committed by politicians. If citizens have the power of the right information, manipulation becomes difficult,” added Nwagwu.

He also stressed that while Iner and Noa carry out key roles in civic education, they cannot do their jobs on their own, saying that civil society, media, safety agencies and traditional institutions must intensify.

He accused leaders at all levels of taking personal responsibility for educating themselves and their communities to strengthen the democracy of Nigeria, saying that “those who focus on learning are better informed and can better inform others”.

NWagwu stressed that citizens must equip themselves with three key documents to participate effectively in the electoral process.

“You cannot talk about the elections without the electoral act. Each citizen must also have a copy of the Constitution, in particular the leaders. These documents are not only for lawyers; they are for each Nigerian. The third document is the inac guidelines, which show that the elections are processes guided by law,” he said.

The Paaca boss also examined the technological improvements made between 2015 and 2025, highlighting in particular the role of the accreditation system of Bimodal Voters (BVAS) in the drastically reduction of manipulation in the 2023 elections.

Nwagwu explained the functioning of Bvas and Irev, noting that many wrong ideas derive from a lack of understanding.

Has highlighted the key innovations now integrated by the inac, including the display portal of the INC (IREV) results, the electoral monitoring dashboard, the financial auditing system of the political party, the INCres portal for the recruitment of ad hoc staff and the technology of the voter verification system (VVS)) which allows the voters to track their units of online poling to reduce the confusion on the day of the day of the day Elections.

The Executive Director of the Paaca stated that innovations such as the INEC candidate portal (ICNP – Web version) have simplified the primary electoral appointment process by political parties and better transparency.

Nwagwu also rejected the statements that the Nigeria elections are the most expensive, they observed that these statements are not based on any data.

On the contrary, he said that the data published by Ecowas Network of Electoral Commission who studied the cost of the elections in the EcoWas region indicate that the Nigeria elections are among the least expensive with the country that spends about $ 8 per voter.

In a message of goodwill, the resident electoral commissioner of the ink in the state of Sokoto, Urar Yusuf Garba, represented by the head of education and advertising of the voters, Abdullahi salt Dawa, described the town hall as an important platform to deepen the understanding of the electoral processes.

He said: “The general elections just ended of 2023 have offered precious lessons. While the elections have shown progress in sectors such as the education of the voters, the deployment of the technology and the commitment of the interested parties, they also revealed challenges that require honest reflection and a constructive dialogue.

He underlined that the INNC cannot be successful in isolation, observing that the construction of a sustainable electoral system is based on the commitment of political actors, civil, media, security agencies, judiciary and electorate.

The director of the state of Sokoto of the National Orientation Agency (Noa), Alhaji Babangida Kurfi, represented by Mrs. Okeke Uche Ngozi in his message of goodwill, said that the Municipality was timely as it offered the interested parties the opportunity to reflect on electoral reforms, on the earnings of exploitation and identify the areas for improvement.

He observed that the quality of Nigerian democracy is closely linked to the quality of citizens’ participation.

Okeke stressed that reforms have the purpose of strengthening transparency and equity. He highlighted the need to face the purchase of votes, encouraged peaceful political activities and promised Noa’s promptness to collaborate with organizations such as Paaca in basic awareness.