2027: Your votes will count, INEC assures Nigerians

By Emmanuel Oloniruha

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has assured Nigerians that every vote will count in the 2027 general elections, saying the commission is committed to consolidating the nation’s democratic governance.

INEC Deputy Director of Voter Education and Planning, Mrs Magdalene Aku, gave the assurance on Wednesday in Abuja during a democracy roundtable organised by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ).

Aku, who spoke on the theme: “Making Nigeria’s Vote Count in 2027: The Role of INEC,” said that making Nigerians’ votes count was not just a slogan, but a commitment to ensure the electorate’s choices reflected in election outcomes.

She described voters as the “ultimate kingmakers” in a constitutional democracy, adding that that the commission’s primary mandate centred on protecting the will of the electorate rather than monitoring political outcomes.

“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 premium on the voter to recognise the fact that you are the kingmaker,” Aku said.

She highlighted the commission’s progressive adoption of technology to eliminate electoral frauds, citing the transition from Smart Card Readers to the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and the real-time upload of results via the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal among efforts of the commission.

According to her, transparency was guaranteed right from the grassroots level, as polling unit results recorded on Form EC8A popularly referred to as the people’s result being posted on walls at polling stations for public view before electronic transmission.