Obidient Connect, a civic platform designed to empower Nigerians to monitor and transmit polling unit results in real-time, has expressed concerns over a recent warning by a pro-APC group, Renewed Hope for Greater Nigeria. The group had cautioned against independent, citizens-driven result monitoring ahead of the 2027 elections. Obidient Connect's Coordinator, Charles Odibo, described the warning as "deeply troubling" and questioned why the ruling All Progressives Congress and its associated support groups are afraid of transparency and technology-driven vote protection.
According to Odibo, Obidient Connect was developed under the Prof. Pat Utomi-led Big Tent Coalition to serve as a transparency and accountability tool. The platform allows citizens to monitor, capture, and transmit polling unit results in real-time, which is consistent with the spirit of the Electoral Act. The Act mandates that certified Form EC8A results must be pasted at every polling unit for all to see. Odibo wondered what exactly there is to fear in citizens ensuring that the figures announced match what was recorded and displayed at the polling units.
The urgency of independent monitoring was underscored by revelations from Mundx.com, an election monitoring application that analyzed the 2023 presidential election. The application found that 48% of the 2023 presidential election result sheets uploaded to the IReV portal were not transmitted from BVAS machines but from over 800 different phone devices, in clear violation of the law. This has raised concerns about the integrity of the electoral process and the need for stronger, independent, technology-enabled citizen monitoring.
In Oru-East Local Government Area of Imo State, over 100 polling units had no agents from any political party, based on the Form EC8A documents on IReV. Remarkably, the APC won virtually all of those units. Even more disturbing, all results from these agent-less polling units were uploaded from just two locations: one in Omuma within Oru East LGA, and another on the Owerri–Port Harcourt road, the site of the state INEC office. The photographs of those Form EC8A documents were taken a day after the election, from those two remote locations, not from the actual polling units.
Odibo emphasized that these documented anomalies eroded public trust in the electoral process. He stressed that in the face of such evidence, the call for stronger, independent, technology-enabled citizen monitoring is not only legitimate but also imperative. According to him, if the APC and its support groups genuinely believe in free, fair, credible, and transparent elections, they should welcome platforms like Obidient Connect.
The warning by Renewed Hope for Greater Nigeria has sparked concerns about the potential for electoral malpractices in the 2027 elections. Obidient Connect has called for more independent, citizens-driven election management tools that strengthen democracy and ensure the integrity of the electoral process. The group believes that such tools can help to prevent anomalies and ensure that the will of the people is accurately reflected in the election results.
The development has also raised questions about the role of civil society groups in promoting electoral transparency and accountability. Obidient Connect's efforts to empower citizens to monitor and transmit polling unit results in real-time have been seen as a step in the right direction. However, the warning by Renewed Hope for Greater Nigeria has highlighted the challenges that such initiatives may face in promoting electoral transparency and accountability.
Key points
- The pro-APC group's warning against independent result monitoring has sparked concerns about the potential for electoral malpractices in the 2027 elections.
- Obidient Connect has called for more independent, citizens-driven election management tools that strengthen democracy and ensure the integrity of the electoral process.
- The development has raised questions about the role of civil society groups in promoting electoral transparency and accountability.
