How Nigeria's Elections Actually Work
One commission runs federal and state elections. A different one runs local government polls. And the rule for winning the presidency is stranger than most people assume.
Nigeria votes more often than most people realise, and the machinery behind it is split between bodies that are easy to confuse. This explains who does what, how a vote becomes a result, and what a candidate actually has to achieve to be declared president.
Who runs which election
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) registers voters, registers political parties, and conducts every federal and state election: presidential, Senate, House of Representatives, governorship and state House of Assembly. It also declares those results.
INEC does not run local government elections. Those are conducted by State Independent Electoral Commissions (SIECs), one per state, appointed at state level. This is the single most common point of confusion, and it matters: complaints about council polls belong to a state body, not to INEC.
As at September 2026 there are 22 registered political parties on INEC's register, and the commission is chaired by Prof. Joash Ojo Amupitan, SAN, who assumed duty on 23 October 2025.
The register
Nigeria has over 93 million registered voters. A three-phase continuous voter registration exercise closed on 26 July 2026, adding a further 10,188,755 new registrations, though those are subject to de-duplication before they join the roll.
Registration alone does not let you vote. You need a Permanent Voter Card, and under the Electoral Act 2026 the PVC can now be downloaded from the INEC website rather than collected only in person.
What happens on polling day
Voting is by secret ballot at a polling unit, and accreditation runs through the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) — a handheld device that checks a voter either by fingerprint or by facial verification against the register.
BVAS is not new in practice, but it is newly important in law. Until 2026 it existed only in INEC's own regulations, which meant it could in principle be changed without legislation. Section 47 of the Electoral Act 2026 gives it express statutory recognition.
After the count, the presiding officer records the polling unit result on Form EC8A. Section 60(3) of the 2026 Act requires that form to be transmitted electronically to INEC's IReV results viewing portal, and a presiding officer who wilfully frustrates transmission faces six months' imprisonment or a ₦500,000 fine.
There is a caveat that has attracted real criticism. The same section provides that Form EC8A — the paper original — remains the primary source for collation and declaration of results in all cases, with a manual fallback where communication fails. The Act does not define what counts as a communication failure. So transmission is mandatory, but the paper form retains legal primacy, and critics argue that combination leaves room to sidestep the portal.
What it takes to win the presidency
This is where Nigerian law differs from most systems. Under section 134 of the 1999 Constitution, a presidential candidate must have:
- the highest number of votes cast, and
- not less than one-quarter of the votes in at least two-thirds of all the states in the Federation — that is, 24 of the 36 states — and the Federal Capital Territory.
If nobody clears both hurdles, a run-off is held within 21 days.
The wording around the FCT was litigated after the 2023 election, with one argument being that 25% in Abuja was a separate, mandatory requirement that could block an otherwise winning candidate. On 26 October 2023 the Supreme Court rejected that reading, holding that the FCT is counted as one of the states rather than as a 37th veto.
The practical effect is that a candidate cannot win on regional strength alone. Spread matters as much as volume.
The 2027 timetable
INEC released a revised timetable on 26 February 2026:
| Election | Date |
|---|---|
| Presidential and National Assembly | Saturday 16 January 2027 |
| Governorship and State Assembly | Saturday 6 February 2027 |
The polls were originally set for February and March 2027 and were moved forward after objections that the dates clashed with Ramadan. Party primaries ran from 23 April to 30 May 2026. Presidential and National Assembly campaigning opened on 19 August 2026; governorship campaigning on 9 September 2026.
Note the year. A lot of material online still assumes a February or March 2027 presidential poll. It is January.
Challenging a result
Election petitions go to election tribunals, and the 2026 Act narrowed what you can argue. Under section 138, a petition may now be brought on only two grounds: that the election was invalid by reason of corrupt practices or non-compliance with the Act, or that the respondent was not duly elected by a majority of lawful votes.
Disputes about whether a candidate was qualified to stand were dropped as a ground of petition. That is a significant change, and it means qualification challenges have to be brought before the election rather than after it.
Frequently asked questions
Can Nigerians abroad vote? No. The Electoral Act 2026 did not introduce diaspora voting, early voting, proxy voting or voting by prisoners, despite all four being proposed during the debate.
Who conducts the election in my local government? Your State Independent Electoral Commission, not INEC.
Does INEC announce results from the IReV portal? No. IReV is a public viewing platform for polling unit result sheets. Collation and declaration run on the physical Form EC8A.
Sources
- Electoral Act 2026, assented 18 February 2026 — Premium Times
- Revised INEC timetable, 26 February 2026 — Channels TV
- Sections 47, 60 and 138 analysis — OAL
- Section 134, 1999 Constitution — Constitute Project
- Registered parties — INEC