Civil society organisations have raised concerns over the preparedness of key stakeholders ahead of the 2027 general elections, calling for greater transparency, stronger security measures and responsible conduct by political actors.
The groups made the call on Friday during a press conference on the EU-SDGN Civil Society Open Memorandum to Election Stakeholders in Nigeria, held at Onomo Allure Abuja AATC Hotel.
The memorandum, titled “Rising Concerns Ahead of the 2027 General Election: An Urgent Call for Action,” was delivered by Cynthia Mbamalu, Director of Programmes, Yiaga Africa.
The organisations said decisions being taken by the Independent National Electoral Commission, political parties, security agencies and other public institutions ahead of the elections would have a direct impact on the credibility and peaceful conduct of the polls.
They noted that the Presidential and National Assembly elections are scheduled for January 16, 2027, while the Governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections will hold on February 6, 2027.
The groups said with only a limited period remaining before the first election, there was little room for avoidable delays, poor coordination or inadequate public information.
They urged the Independent National Electoral Commission to provide regular and verifiable evidence of its readiness for the elections rather than relying solely on general assurances.
According to them, INEC should publish a dated readiness dashboard showing the release and deployment of election funds, procurement milestones, delivery and distribution of sensitive and non-sensitive materials, as well as contingency plans for areas affected by insecurity or infrastructure challenges.
The groups also called on the commission to publish information on the recruitment, training and deployment of election personnel, including welfare arrangements for ad hoc staff.
They urged INEC to fill vacancies in critical leadership and technical positions transparently and early enough to strengthen the commission’s capacity and ensure continuity.
On electoral technology, the organisations asked INEC to clearly explain how the Electoral Act 2026 and its regulations would guide voter accreditation, polling-unit result management, collation and publication.
They also demanded that INEC conduct and publish the results of stress tests on key technologies, including the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System and the INEC Result Viewing Portal.
The CSOs further called for clear fallback procedures and audit trails for corrections or delayed uploads of election results.
They urged INEC to provide verifiable evidence that the technological glitch that affected the uploading of results to IReV during the 2023 general election had been addressed.
The organisations also called for clear guidelines on the collection and distribution of Permanent Voter Cards, including the logistics and personnel required to prevent delays and possible disenfranchisement.
On political parties and candidates, the groups urged them to focus campaigns on genuine policy choices rather than fear, exclusion and incitement.
They called on parties and candidates to reject hate speech and rhetoric capable of deepening ethnic, religious, gender and regional divisions.
The CSOs also demanded an end to voter intimidation, coercion, vote buying, profiling and obstruction of lawful political activities.
They urged political actors to ensure equal access to campaign venues, advertising spaces and other shared resources, with transparent rules applying to all parties and candidates.
The groups also called on security agencies, particularly the Nigeria Police Force, to publish a coordinated election-security framework covering threat assessment, risk mitigation, command responsibility, protection of vulnerable communities and rapid response mechanisms.
They stressed that security personnel must remain impartial and should not be used for partisan coercion.
The organisations urged the media to provide fair and issue-based election coverage, verify viral claims before publication, distinguish paid content from editorial reports and promptly correct errors.
They also called on religious, traditional and community leaders to use their influence to promote peaceful participation, reject collective blame and direct citizens to credible election information.
The groups further urged the judiciary to determine pre-election and post-election disputes within the required timelines, publish reasoned decisions promptly and protect judicial independence.
The organisations said civil society groups must also strengthen coordination in election observation and civic education while ensuring that claims are verified before advocacy.
They stressed that the credibility of the 2027 general election would depend on actions taken long before polling day.
The memorandum was endorsed by the Centre for Media and Society, International Press Centre, Nigerian Women Trust Fund, TAF Africa, The Kukah Centre and Yiaga Africa.