Bugaje, Utomi, Others Demand Credible Electoral Reform Before 2027 Poll

A political group, the Movement for Credible Elections (MCE), has called for credible electoral reform before the 2027 general elections.

According to the group, the fragility of the electioneering system has led the electorate to lose trust in it, and the rot within it has made it impossible for the electoral system to reflect the will of the people.

One of the leaders of the group Hon. Usman Bugaje, who briefed the press in company of Prof. Pat Utomi and former Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) chairman, Comrade Ayuba Wabba, said there was need for systemic and decisive constitutional /electoral reforms, before the 2027 General Elections adding if the reform is not carried out before the election, then the 2027 general elections is seriously at risk.

MCE stated that the consequences will be deeper public disillusionment, growing public resentment, and further erosion of democratic legitimacy, which will open the door to political instability.

“It is for this reason that MCE, a national coalition of civic groups and citizens, formally calls on the leadership of the National Assembly, both the Senate and the House of Representatives, to prioritise far-reaching and non-negotiable reforms in the ongoing harmonisation of electoral reform bills ahead of the 2027 elections.

MCE emphasised that successive electoral cycles in Nigeria have witnessed the same troubling electoral patterns.

“These include electoral violence, voter suppression, vote buying, weak logistics, selective deployment of technology, poor enforcement of electoral laws, manipulation during collation, and the open circumvention of voters’ choices. These problems are no longer isolated incidents,” it said.

At the briefing, which was the inaugural meeting, the group also stated that it is poised to have branches across the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

The group noted that areas that require more attention are strengthening the Electoral Act 2022, Mandatory Electronic Transmission of Results, and Strict Sanctions for Electoral Offences

Sections of the Electoral Act dealing with electoral offences must be strengthened to impose clear, deterrent penalties for vote buying, voter intimidation, assault on election personnel, destruction of election materials, and falsification of results.

It added that there is a need to strengthen INEC’s Institutional Independence.

Professor Utomi added that Nigeria is in deep crisis, saying, “The state of our nation is unsound and pushing dangerously to the brink. It is time for citizens, true citizens, to arise and draw a line in the sand. Before us is collapse vs progress; life and death. We must choose the life that we may live.”