The ADC political party says it no longer trusts INEC and will independently count and guard its own votes in 2027.
One of Nigeria’s major political parties, the African Democratic Congress(ADC), has publicly announced that it no longer trusts the Independent National Electoral Commission to protect its votes in the upcoming 2027 general elections.
Speaking live on nationwide television during a political news program monitored in Abuja on Monday night, September 21, 2026, the party revealed that it is already building its own private system to count, collect, and protect every single vote recorded for its candidates across all polling units in the country.
The party explained that while INEC still holds the official legal power to announce the final results, political candidates can no longer sit back quietly and trust the election body blindly without double-checking the numbers themselves.
The primary reason why the opposition party took this bold stance is what happened during the previous general elections in 2023.
During that election, the electoral commission repeatedly promised politicians and everyday voters that polling unit results would be sent directly and automatically to its computer portal, known as IReV, for everybody to see in real-time.
However, when voting finished on election day, the electoral body claimed that technical glitches stopped the computers from sending the results automatically.
The political party explained that this sudden failure broke the trust of millions of voters and candidates who relied on those promises.
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Giving full details of the party’s official position, the National Publicity Secretary of the ADC, Mr. Bolaji Abdullahi, shared clear statements during the television interview.
Recalling how candidates were disappointed by broken promises in the past, Mr. Bolaji Abdullahi stated, “Don’t forget that I ran for Senate in the 2023 election. What many of us did, and not only myself, was that we trusted INEC when they told us there would be automatic transmission of results to the IReV”.
Explaining why the party refuses to rely on the electoral umpire again, the party spokesperson noted, “Then what happened afterwards? They said that, due to some technical glitch, the results could not be transmitted automatically to the IReV. So we have been beaten by that, and we are now twice shy. We say we will not allow it to happen again. We are no longer naive”.
Confirming how the party will handle the counting process in 2027, he emphasized, “We can no longer trust INEC to protect our votes for us. We are saying that we will vigilantly guard our own votes. We will protect our own votes”.
Clarifying that the party will only accept true results matching what happened at the voting spots, the official added, “We admit and concede that INEC has the power and the authority to release the results of the election and to collate results of the election. But we are going to have our own arrangement through which we will collate our own results and to be sure that it tallies with whatever they are doing”.
Political parties are preparing very early for the 2027 polls. Security experts and political observers say that independent vote counting by political parties will force election officers to be more honest and careful when writing down final results.
Jennifer Baba is a journalist, international news correspondent, and writer at Moderncrux, where she covers artificial intelligence, fintech, emerging technologies, global politics, and international affairs. Based in Nigeria, she is passionate about transforming complex global developments into clear, engaging stories that inform and inspire readers.
