Bolade Oyegbami, a Director and Entrepreneurial Professional with over a decade of experience in Advisory and Consultancy, has emphasized the importance of a credible electoral process in granting legitimacy to any government. With Nigeria preparing for the 2027 general elections, Oyegbami, along with Dr. Bolaji Akinyemi, has developed the National Election Intelligence Project and the Nigeria Election Evidence and Transparency Project. These initiatives aim to enhance transparency and credibility in the electoral process.
Oyegbami's involvement in this project is both personal and patriotic, driven by his relationship with Dr. Bolaji Akinyemi, his cousin and a long-time advocate for democratic reform in Nigeria. The projects, which will be presented at a side event of the ongoing United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on September 26, 2026, seek to address a fundamental democratic problem: ensuring that citizens have verifiable evidence of the results declared at their polling units.
The National Election Intelligence Project and the Nigeria Election Evidence and Transparency Project aim to provide an independent, citizen-centered evidence and transparency layer around the electoral process. This layer will enable the capture, verification, and publication of evidence from polling units, thereby increasing public confidence in the electoral process. The projects do not seek to replace the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) but rather complement its efforts.
The technology driving these projects is designed to be simple and user-friendly, with a focus on four key gates: Capture, Verify, Confirm, and Publish. Trained observers, citizen reporters, party agents, or accredited civil society actors will capture the official result sheet and public announcement at the polling unit, which will then be verified and confirmed through a series of checks.
The system will utilize artificial intelligence to assist with reading result sheets and identifying anomalies, but human verification will remain essential. Multiple independent verifiers will examine the evidence before it becomes part of the verified public record. This approach ensures that technology assists verification without replacing democratic authority.
To prevent manipulation or false submissions, the system is built around multiple verification gates, examining location, timestamp, arithmetic consistency, and other indicators. Evidence that does not satisfy the required checks will be flagged for further review, and individuals will not be able to upload evidence and approve their own submissions.
The credibility of the platform will come from allowing people to see the evidence, understand how it was verified, and trace the published figure back to its source. Ultimately, this technology has the potential to change the psychology of citizenship in Nigeria, enabling citizens to have greater confidence in the electoral process and their role within it.
Key points
- The National Election Intelligence Project and Nigeria Election Evidence and Transparency Project aim to provide an independent, citizen-centered evidence and transparency layer around the electoral process.
- The projects do not seek to replace the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) but rather complement its efforts.
- The technology driving these projects is designed to be simple and user-friendly, with a focus on four key gates: Capture, Verify, Confirm, and Publish.
