- PLAC executive director says public trust is critical to credible polls; JFCN warns Nigerians against taking democracy for granted, urges active citizenship
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) must ensure that any deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) in Nigeria’s electoral process is transparent, lawful and independently verifiable, the Executive Director of the Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre (PLAC), Dr Clement Nwankwo, has warned ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Nwankwo cautioned that introducing unfamiliar technology without clearly explaining its purpose, operational procedures and relationship with existing electoral laws could undermine public confidence and raise questions about the credibility of election results.
He insisted that technology must strengthen electoral transparency and protect the will of voters rather than create opportunities for manipulation or erode confidence in the electoral process.
The PLAC chief spoke in Abuja on Tuesday at the eighth annual public lecture of the Just Friends Club of Nigeria (JFCN), themed “From Concern to Action: Making Our Votes Count in the 2027 General Elections.”
The lecture brought together experts and stakeholders to examine Nigeria’s democratic challenges, including insecurity, economic hardship, voter apathy, declining public confidence in institutions and the need for greater citizen participation.
Addressing concerns about INEC’s proposed use of artificial intelligence, Nwankwo said the commission must clearly define the technology’s application and ensure that its deployment conforms to established legal and electoral procedures.
“INEC needs to be careful that its so-called use of AI in elections does not result in use of technology to circumvent the vote of the people,” he said.
He argued that electoral innovations must be understandable to voters, political parties and other stakeholders, stressing that the ability to independently verify electoral processes was essential to establishing their credibility.
Nwankwo acknowledged that artificial intelligence could be useful to political parties in checking and comparing results, particularly during collation. However, he warned against introducing systems that stakeholders could neither understand nor independently scrutinise.
“For the collation of results, for the parties, yes, the use of AI in collated results, so they can cross-check what INEC is doing, is going to be so very important,” he said.
“But INEC should not introduce a system that people do not understand. People cannot verify for use in elections in this country,” he added.
He maintained that the electoral commission must demonstrate transparency at every stage, noting that public confidence could not be secured through assurances alone but through procedures that citizens could scrutinise and trust.
“Citizens have to trust the electoral process, trust the election management body, and the election management body has to, at every stage, convince Nigerians that it is doing the right job,” he said.
The PLAC executive director also urged political parties to focus on issues-based campaigns and present credible policy alternatives to Nigerians instead of allowing electoral contests to degenerate into accusations and recriminations.
He called on citizens dissatisfied with governance or previous electoral outcomes to participate actively in the democratic process, arguing that withdrawing from elections would do little to address the problems confronting the country.
He said INEC must demonstrate its capacity to conduct credible elections, warning that Nigerians would not accept an electoral process that failed to meet the required standards of transparency and accountability.
Democracy must not be taken for granted
Chairman of the occasion and Country Director of CARE Nigeria, Hussaini Abdu, warned that Nigerians, particularly younger citizens who did not experience military rule, risked taking democracy for granted without appreciating the sacrifices made to secure the country’s return to civil rule.
Abdu described democracy as a valuable national inheritance that must be protected and transferred to future generations, cautioning that its loss could expose younger Nigerians to the struggles endured by those who fought for democratic governance.
He said the JFCN’s decision to focus this year’s lecture on the 2027 elections reflected the urgency of strengthening citizen participation and addressing weaknesses in the democratic process.
According to him, the annual lecture series was established to examine pressing national issues and contribute to policy discussions and national development.
Abdu further stressed that electoral institutions, including INEC and security agencies, must not only operate transparently and independently but must also be seen by Nigerians to be doing so.
He noted that public confidence in elections depended significantly on whether institutions responsible for conducting and protecting the process were perceived as impartial, accountable and free from undue influence.
From complaints to responsible citizenship
The President of JFCN, Amaechi C. Aloke, said the theme was deliberately chosen to challenge Nigerians to transform their concerns about governance into meaningful civic engagement.
He observed that citizens frequently complain about insecurity, unemployment, corruption, inadequate infrastructure, rising living costs and poor public services, but warned that dissatisfaction alone would not produce meaningful change.
“What do we do with that concern? Concern, by itself, does not change a country. It must become knowledge. Knowledge must become participation. Participation must become responsible citizenship. And responsible citizenship must extend beyond Election Day,” Aloke said.
The discussions also examined the apparent weakening of collective civic action, particularly among sections of the middle class who increasingly depend on private alternatives to compensate for deficiencies in public services.
Speakers noted that many relatively affluent Nigerians rely on generators and solar systems for electricity, private schools and hospitals for essential services, and medical treatment abroad when domestic healthcare falls short.
While acknowledging that such alternatives offer individuals some relief, they warned that excessive dependence on private solutions could weaken collective pressure on government to improve public infrastructure and essential services.
An example was cited from an affluent Abuja neighbourhood where residents reportedly expressed dissatisfaction with levies imposed by local authorities through a WhatsApp group but failed to translate their complaints into coordinated civic action.
The discussion questioned whether fragmented responses to shared problems were undermining citizens’ capacity to demand accountability and influence public policy.
Speakers also raised concerns about voter apathy among eligible voters, including residents of affluent communities who reportedly abstain from elections despite frequently expressing dissatisfaction with governance.
They urged Nigerians to move beyond social media exchanges and private complaints by registering to vote, turning out on election day, monitoring electoral proceedings, protecting their votes and documenting results at polling units in accordance with the law.
The speakers maintained that meaningful democratic participation should extend beyond casting ballots to include sustained engagement with elected representatives, scrutiny of public spending and demands for accountability.
JFCN expands civic and philanthropic engagement
Established in 2013, the Just Friends Club of Nigeria began its annual public lecture series in 2014, using the platform to examine issues affecting national development.
Previous editions have addressed economic reforms, public debt, national security, electoral politics and the cost of governance.
At the seventh edition in 2025, retired Lieutenant-General Abdulrahman Dambazau delivered a lecture on Nigeria’s security challenges and national cohesion, advocating a people-centred approach to security and greater investment in human development.
Beyond its lecture series, Aloke said the club undertook philanthropic initiatives, including visits to homes for older people and orphanages, support for children with disabilities, career guidance programmes in public schools and sponsorship for eight indigent secondary school students in Abuja.
As Nigeria approaches the 2027 general elections, the central message from the lecture was that credible democracy requires more than periodic voting. It demands electoral institutions that command public confidence, transparent and verifiable procedures, issue-driven political campaigns and citizens willing to participate actively in shaping the country’s future.
For Nwankwo, INEC’s handling of electoral technology will be an important test of its commitment to credible elections. The commission, he maintained, must ensure that every system it deploys is lawful, transparent and capable of being understood and independently verified by the Nigerian people whose votes determine the outcome.
