It’s been an action-packed week in Nigeria’s political and electoral space. Yiaga Africa pulled policy makers, election officials, and experts into one room in Abuja to talk early and inmate voting, because voting shouldn’t be a privilege reserved for those with a free Saturday. INEC is also in go-mode ahead of this Saturday’s by-elections in 16 constituencies across 12 states: BVAS machines are charged, ballot papers are packed, and security agencies are flexing muscle, 20,850 NSCDC personnel are hitting the field, the Police in Kano say they’ve got eyes everywhere, and even the Jigawa land border with Niger will take a brief nap on election day. Meanwhile in Borno, INEC has moved CVR centres from four LGAs to Maiduguri for safety, ahead of August 18 (online) and August 25 (physical) registrations. Yiaga Africa also gathered stakeholders for a roundtable on the coming change in INEC leadership, stressing that the next appointees could make or break 2027.
On the party front, the drama doesn’t sleep. Labour Party’s Julius Abure took shots at Peter Obi over internal wranglings, ADC’s National Chairman, Senator David Mark, is asking voters to give his party a chance while side-eyeing INEC for credible elections, and Charly Boy is basically telling anyone planning to rig 2027 to “try am and see.” Dive into Issue 33 for the full breakdown.
