Aisha Yesufu, an ally of the presidential candidate of the National Democratic Congress, (NDC), Peter Obi, says the opposition will deploy a nationwide network of election agents in 2027 to monitor votes from polling units through the collation process to the final declaration in Abuja.
Mrs Yesufu said the strategy was informed by lessons from the 2023 presidential election, which she said showed that opposition supporters could not afford to rely solely on electoral institutions to protect their votes. “We have our own alternative means of ensuring that we are protected,” Mrs Yesufu said.
She said supporters would monitor election materials and results at every stage, from the polling unit to the ward and local government collation centres, state level and ultimately Abuja. “There is no time that any ballot paper, any ballot box, result sheet or the individual will be out of our sight,” she said.
According to her, the movement would deploy people and resources to ensure that election materials are not diverted or altered during the collation process. “We will follow them using bikes, we will follow them using boats, we will follow them by air,” she said, adding that supporters would continue monitoring the process until the results were entered and declared.
Mrs Yesufu said the objective was to ensure that the result declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) reflected the votes cast at the polling units. “We will ensure that no vote is changed from where it is voted and entered in to the place where the INEC chairman declares the final result,” she said.
Ms Yesufu said the focus of the 2027 campaign would extend beyond rallies to the polling units, where she said the opposition intended to have a strong presence on election day.