An EU-backed election observation coalition has urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to publish clear guidelines on electronic results transmission, strengthen transparency in result collation and protect ballot secrecy ahead of the 2027 general elections.

The coalition also called for the arrest and prosecution of vote buyers and perpetrators of electoral violence, warning that the failure to hold offenders accountable could undermine public confidence in the electoral process.

The recommendations were contained in reports presented in Abuja by the EU Support to Democratic Governance in Nigeria Election Observation Hub during the dissemination of its post-election findings on the Ekiti and Osun governorship elections.

The hub comprises The Kukah Centre, TAF Africa, Nigerian Women Trust Fund, Yiaga Africa, International Press Centre and the Centre for Media and Society.

Presenting the report, Prof. Bolade Eyinla said Nigeria needed to address persistent weaknesses in electoral integrity before the 2027 elections, particularly vote-buying and threats to voters’ freedom of choice.

The report acknowledged improvements in INEC’s deployment of election personnel and materials during the Ekiti and Osun governorship elections, noting that no fatality was recorded on election day.

It added that the commission’s declared results were confirmed by an independent parallel results tabulation.

The observers said organised vote trading compromised voters’ choices and ballot secrecy, shifting the major concern from the accuracy of result collation to the freedom of the ballot.

They urged security agencies to extend enforcement beyond polling units to nearby locations where money was allegedly exchanged for votes.

They also called for investigations and prosecutions of vote buyers, their agents and party financiers, as well as the publication of details of arrests and prosecutions arising from electoral offences and violence.

The coalition identified the absence of reported arrests, investigations or prosecutions of vote buyers and perpetrators of electoral violence in the two states as a major accountability gap.

On result transparency, the observers faulted the non-publication of result-transmission protocols and the failure to upload Forms EC8B and EC8C on INEC’s Result Viewing Portal.

They urged the commission to publish clear guidelines on electronic results, explain its validation procedures and clarify which version of a result would prevail where discrepancies arose.

The report also recommended that INEC make the collation process transparent and traceable from polling units to the final declaration of results. It called for the publication of relevant result forms, including records from polling units where elections were cancelled or did not take place.

Speaking on behalf of the civil society organisations, the Executive Director of the Centre for Media and Society (CEMESO), Dr Akin Akingbulu, said the observation exercise covered the entire electoral cycle rather than election day alone.

He said the participating organisations monitored developments before, during and after the elections, assessed the electoral environment, mapped risks, engaged citizens and independently verified results before producing their findings..

He added that more than 1,400 accredited citizen observers monitored the elections across all 16 local government areas of Ekiti State and 30 local government areas of Osun State.

Inspector-General of Police, Olatunji Disu, pledged improved intelligence gathering, strategic deployment and surveillance to prevent violence and electoral disruption during the 2027 general elections.