The Nigerian Democratic Congress (NDC) has begun early preparations to mitigate possible vote sabotage in the 2027 general election.
The party has laid out plans to recruit polling agents and strengthen voter awareness to ensure votes are properly counted and recorded.

The party’s National Chairman, Senator Moses Cleopas, said the NDC was mobilising its structures across the country to protect its electoral interests.

Cleopas spoke after a two-day meeting of the party’s National Working Committee, where he outlined preparations for the election.

“My deputy chairman, South, is the chairman of a committee. We are not waiting for INEC to tell us before we run around. We are already working in advance on party agents,” he said.

He explained that the party was coordinating its presidential, governorship, National Assembly and State Assembly candidates to ensure adequate representation at polling units.

According to him, the strategy would help the party monitor the electoral process and ensure votes cast for its candidates were properly accounted for.

“We are convinced that if it is the votes to win the 2027 general elections, we have them,” Cleopas said.

He stressed that securing votes at the ballot box was not enough without effective monitoring and protection of the results.

“It is vote protection. It is vote protection legitimately, and the vote protection starts from awareness that must be created among our voters,” he said.

The NDC chairman urged voters to remain vigilant after casting their ballots and ensure their votes were counted.

“Voting alone is not it, but vote and protect your vote and make sure that your vote gets to the point that it should be counted for,” he said.

Cleopas recalled the experience of a friend who mobilised support for the party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi, during the 2023 election but later questioned how the results were handled.

He said the NDC was determined to avoid a recurrence of such concerns through early mobilisation, voter education and the deployment of polling agents.

Cleopas also explained the delay in inaugurating the presidential campaign council for Obi and his running mate, Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso.
He said the party had proposed October 20 for the inauguration, subject to consultations with the candidates.

According to him, the NDC has prepared a blueprint for the campaign structure but wants to ensure that those appointed are committed to its electoral objectives.

“It is better to get it right. It is a sensitive election that we are going into, and we must check characters,” he said.

He warned that campaign officials with divided loyalties could undermine the party’s efforts.

“It is not today you are going to have one DG of your campaign and in the middle of the campaign you will hear that your DG is one leg in NDC, one leg somewhere else. It will jeopardise the whole hope of this country,” he said.

Cleopas dismissed claims of divisions within the party over the Obi-Kwankwaso ticket, insisting that the NDC leadership remained committed to both candidates.

He said the proposed October 20 meeting would also feature the issuance of certificates of return to the party’s candidates and a dinner to strengthen cooperation among them.

The chairman said the party’s priority was to build a strong campaign organisation and prepare its supporters to protect votes during the 2027 general election.