A civil society organisation, Kimpact Development Initiative, has called for the creation of a National Election Offences Commission before the 2027 elections to investigate and prosecute electoral violations.

The Executive Director of KDI, Bukola Idowu, made the call on Friday at a news conference on the 2025 off-cycle Anambra governorship election in Abuja.

He said field reports indicated interference by party agents across several polling units, reflecting breaches of electoral standards that threatened the credibility of the process.

He stated, “Observers documented repeated disruptions driven by party agents from most political parties, in ways inconsistent with Nigeria’s electoral guidelines.’’

He added that field reports showed party agents engaged in vote-buying using cash inducements offered to voters at different locations.

Mr Idowu said such actions undermined electoral integrity by introducing undue influence and compromising free voter choice.

He said the establishment of a National Electoral Offences Commission had become necessary as the country approached the 2027 elections.

He explained that the commission would strengthen accountability for political parties and enable prosecution of party agents involved in obstruction, intimidation, or vote-buying.

KDI also called for an urgent review of Nigeria’s election security guidelines and an amendment of the Electoral Act to expand security agencies’ powers.

Mr Idowu said the changes would allow security agents to intervene immediately in cases of vote buying, obstruction, and intimidation without waiting for instructions from presiding officers.

He said legal constraints had limited police action during the election because the Electoral Act placed security agents under the control of presiding officers, often youth corps members.

On whether vote buying affected the credibility of the poll, he said the practice was condemned but did not alter the final outcome, as multiple parties engaged in inducement.

He said discrepancies in figures released by the Independent National Electoral Commission, including inconsistencies in registered voter data and IReV uploads, were not sufficient to change the final result.

Mr Idowu noted that the election recorded a significant improvement in voter turnout, rising to 21.34 per cent compared with 10.36 per cent in 2021.

He said BVAS functioned effectively in more than 96 per cent of polling units, enabling smooth and accurate voter accreditation.

KDI, however, highlighted the need for stricter enforcement of polling-unit layout, improved physical arrangements for voter privacy, and stronger oversight by electoral officials and security personnel.

The KDI assessment covered four areas Nigeria Election Violence Education and Resolution (NEVER), the Ballot Integrity Project (BIP), and political-finance monitoring.

It also included citizen participation through technology using the NijaElection platform.

The findings were produced under the Electoral Accountability Project (SEAP), supported by the U.K. Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), with 370 trained observers deployed across 326 wards.

(NAN)