Nigeria’s 2027 Elections: Understanding Facts Behind Election Results Management, from Counting to Transmission

By Daniel Mkpume

As Nigerians prepare for the 2027 General Elections, attention is increasingly turning to the political contest ahead.

The revised electoral timetable released by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has scheduled the Presidential and National Assembly elections for 16 January 2027, followed by the Governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections on 6 February 2027. Changes to the initial date were made after the Electoral Act 2026 was signed into law.

For the second time since the 2023 elections, the Presidential race is expected to be keenly contested by three major candidates who were also on the ballot in 2023 and secured significant votes.

However, unlike in some other countries in the region where opposition parties have been able to form formidable coalitions to challenge incumbency, Nigerian political parties are yet to demonstrate that level of political maturity.

In my view, the 2027 elections will do three important things. First, they will test whether the change of political party by two key candidates will have any significant effect on the voting pattern of Nigerians. It will also raise the question: Do political Party ideologies really influence voting patterns in Nigeria, or do voters continue to vote based on other factors?

Secondly, the election will test the popularity of the incumbent President as he seeks a second term in office. Lastly, it will test whether the current economic and security realities in the country will have any significant effect on the voting patterns of the electorate.

These three issues, in my view, will make the 2027 elections an important election to watch, not only because of who wins, but because of what the election will tell us about the changing nature of Nigerian voters and politics.

One of the most discussed issues arising from the 2023 elections was the technical glitches associated with the uploading and viewing of polling unit results on the Independent National Electoral Commission’s Result Viewing Portal (IReV). The experience generated considerable debate and advocacy around the electronic transmission of election results.

The Electoral Act 2026 has strengthened the legal framework for electronic transmission of election results. However, it is important to understand that electronic transmission does not mean that the entire election result is automatically calculated and transmitted from the polling unit to the national level as one continuous process. The process involves counting, recording, transmission and physical collation at different levels.

This piece is therefore written to provide clear understanding of how election results move from the point of counting at the polling unit to the point of final collation. This has become necessary because some Nigerian voters appear to believe that the new Electoral Act will introduce a system where results from individual polling units are automatically tallied and transmitted as counting progresses until the final national result is produced.

What Happens on Election Day?
On Election Day, registered voters report to their designated polling units to cast their votes. In line with the 2026 Electoral Act and INEC Electoral Regulations and Guidelines 2026, voters are accredited using the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), after which the accredited voter is issued a ballot paper to cast his or her vote.

At the end of voting, the Polling officials proceeds with the counting of the ballot papers at the polling unit. The votes scored by each candidate are recorded on the prescribed result sheet, Form EC8A. The result sheet is signed by the Presiding Officer and other persons required by law and the relevant guidelines.

The result is announced at the polling unit. A copy of the completed result is made available to the relevant polling agents and other persons as prescribed. The Presiding Officer is also required to upload the snapshot of the form EC8A to the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IREV).

Upon successful upload, an electronic version of the form EC8A (E-EC8A) will appear on the BIVAS for the presiding officer to input vote score by each party for transmission, if the figures on the transmitted electronic and the uploaded snapshot version tallies, the process will be successfully, if not , it will reject the electronically transmitted figures for necessary review. All these processes must be done at the polling unit. At the end to of the process, the manually copy of the form EC8A becomes available to the public on IREV.

How Are Results Collated?
The results from the polling units are first brought to the appropriate Registration Area/Ward Collation Centre, where results from the different polling units within the ward are collated. The results are entered into the prescribed collation form, Form EC8B. From the ward level, the results are further collated at the Local Government Area (LGA) level using Form EC8C.

This brings together the results from the various wards within the LGA. The results from the different LGAs are then collated at the State level using Form EC8D. At this stage, the results from the LGAs are brought together to determine the overall result for the state.

For the Presidential Election, the results from the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory are subsequently brought together at the national level. The national result is recorded in Form EC8E and forms the basis for the declaration of the Presidential Election result.

This process is important because it shows that an election result does not simply move electronically from the polling unit to the national level as one continuous process. There are different stages of collation, and each stage has a prescribed role.

The electronic transmission of polling-unit results therefore adds an important transparency mechanism to the electoral process, but it does not replace the statutory collation process. The polling-unit result remains the starting point from which results are subsequently collated at the different levels.

This distinction is particularly important for researchers, civil society organisations, political parties and citizens who may wish to compare the results uploaded electronically with the official results eventually declared. They will need to collect and organise the polling-unit results and compare them with the results recorded at the various collation levels.

As Nigeria moves towards the 2027 elections, public understanding of this process will be just as important as the technology itself. Technology can improve transparency, but public confidence will ultimately depend on whether citizens can understand, follow and independently verify how the figures move from the polling unit to the final declaration.

Daniel Mkpume is a Research and Public Policy alumnus of the University of Jos. He tweets @danpume.