Independent Civic Intelligence Initiative

Electoral systems provide citizens with a democratic means of choosing those who govern them. In Nigeria, this responsibility rests with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), an institution established under Section 153 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and further empowered by the Electoral Act 2022.

The 2023 General Elections came with a high level of public expectation. For the first time, several technological reforms were introduced and promoted as measures aimed at improving transparency, accountability, and public confidence in the electoral process.

These included the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), introduced to improve voter accreditation and reduce electoral malpractice, and the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV), introduced to provide public access to polling unit result sheets and improve transparency in the result management process.

The Electoral Act 2022 further strengthened the use of technology in elections. Section 60(5) empowers presiding officers to transfer election results, including the total number of accredited voters and results recorded at polling units, in a manner prescribed by the Commission.

Together, these reforms created an expectation that election information would become more transparent, more accessible, and easier for citizens to verify.

However, following the elections, several domestic and international observer missions documented concerns relating to different aspects of the process.

The European Union Election Observation Mission, the Commonwealth Observer Group, the African Union Election Observation Mission, the National Democratic Institute (NDI), the International Republican Institute (IRI), and the Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room all published observations, findings, and recommendations following the elections.

Among the issues highlighted were concerns relating to delays in result uploads, operational and logistical challenges, election-day violence in some locations, voter suppression, inconsistencies in the deployment of technology, and the resulting impact on public confidence in parts of the electoral process.

Regardless of political affiliation or electoral outcome, one issue became increasingly clear: citizens wanted greater visibility into the electoral process and better access to information.

Many citizens wanted to understand what was happening not only at the national level, but also within their own polling units, wards, local government areas, and states.

PollTraceNG was created as a contribution towards that objective. An independent platform that seeks to improve civic participation, election awareness, public insight, and access to information through technology.

PollTraceNG does not conduct elections, declare election results, or perform the statutory responsibilities assigned to INEC or other electoral institutions. Instead, the initiative seeks to provide citizens with tools that enable them to independently observe, document, report, and better understand electoral processes in a transparent and structured manner.

Power ultimately belongs to the people. Meaningful participation should not begin and end on election day. Citizens should have opportunities to engage, contribute, and access information throughout the democratic process.