Presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, has revealed a new strategy his political team plans to deploy during the 2027 general election to independently track and transmit results from polling units across Nigeria.
Obi disclosed the plan during an interview with Arise TV, explaining that his team would operate an independent transmission channel alongside the official result transmission system of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
According to the former Anambra State governor, the objective is to ensure that results recorded at polling units are properly captured, transmitted and preserved.
He said his team would not rely solely on INEC’s system but would also receive results directly from party agents stationed at polling units nationwide.
«“We must make sure that at every polling unit, the votes are counted, the votes are recorded properly, the votes are transmitted properly.”»
Obi added that the proposed system would allow results to be transmitted simultaneously to the designated INEC platform and his party’s own situation room.
He stressed that the arrangement would not be an attempt to create another electoral commission or take over INEC’s statutory responsibilities.
Rather, he said the purpose was to create an independent record that could be used to monitor and verify what happened at polling units.
‘We Don’t Want Results That Didn’t Emanate From Polling Units’
When asked whether the plan amounted to creating a parallel IReV system, Obi rejected the description.
He argued that political parties and other organisations have the right to monitor elections and maintain their own records based on results obtained from their agents.
“All we are saying is that this time around, we will make sure that in every polling unit, we must have a system that transmits to our own situation room the correct results,” he said.
Obi further suggested that other organisations could develop similar independent monitoring systems ahead of the election.
He said having multiple independent records could make it more difficult for figures to emerge that cannot be traced back to the results recorded at polling units.
2023 Experience Still Fresh
The proposal comes against the backdrop of controversies surrounding electronic result transmission during the 2023 presidential election.
INEC’s Result Viewing Portal, IReV, was designed to enable the public to view results uploaded from polling units. However, delays and technical difficulties surrounding the uploading of results during the 2023 election triggered criticism from opposition parties and their supporters.
Obi, who contested the 2023 presidential election on the platform of the Labour Party, was among those who challenged the outcome of the election in court. The Supreme Court ultimately affirmed President Bola Tinubu’s victory.
Obi: ‘I’m Not Worried About The Outcome’
Obi said his major concern going into the 2027 election is not simply who wins, but whether voters can effectively protect their votes.
He maintained that his supporters would be prepared to deal with possible technical challenges, including network problems that could affect electronic transmission.
“There will be so many IReVs this time,” Obi said, adding that alternative arrangements would be available if technical glitches affected the official system.
He also urged voters to remain at their polling units after voting and ensure that the votes are properly counted and recorded.
According to him, the proposed situation room would receive results from agents across the country, where they could be collated, verified and compared with figures eventually released through official channels.
The ultimate objective, Obi said, is to ensure that the final result reflects the votes actually recorded at polling units.
As the 2027 election approaches, the proposed strategy could introduce another layer of independent result tracking into Nigeria’s electoral process—and potentially make the comparison between polling-unit results and officially declared figures more closely watched than ever.
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