Fresh concerns have emerged over the credibility of the 2027 general elections, with insiders at the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) warning that the polls risk becoming the worst in Nigeria’s history unless urgent corrective measures are taken.

Sources within the commission informed Vanguard that politicians have infiltrated INEC’s system, plotting to compromise operations and manipulate outcomes in sensitive areas.

One of the alleged strategies involves the production of dual sets of EC8 result forms at the polling unit, ward, and local government levels.

“This plot involves producing identical Forms EC8A (polling unit), EC8B (ward), and EC8C (local government), one set for public presentation at polling units, and another set reserved for strategic allocation of votes,” a source familiar with the scheme disclosed.

The plan, according to the insider, is to create deliberate discrepancies between physically recorded results and those uploaded to the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV), thereby eroding transparency.

INEC’s technological innovations, including the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and IReV, designed to boost credibility, are also said to be at risk of exploitation.

Sources alleged that during off-cycle elections in Kogi (2023), Edo (2024), and Ondo (2024), pre-prepared results were uploaded to IReV before polling closed, raising questions about the system’s integrity.

According to Vanguard, Civil society monitors reportedly documented cases in Edo where votes tallied exceeded accredited voters, an anomaly observers described as a clear sign of manipulation.

Beyond insiders, civil society groups and election observers are already expressing worry. By-elections conducted after the 2023 polls were said to have shown the same troubling trends, ranging from suspicious delays in IReV uploads to the alleged use of alternative “original” result sheets prepared by compromised operatives.