Former Governor Tambuwal Claims Nigerian Elections Are Not Fully Determined by Voters

Senator and former Sokoto State Governor, Aminu Tambuwal, has asserted that election outcomes in Nigeria are not entirely determined by the voters. Speaking on television, he stated that “things happen” at various stages of the electoral process that distort the true will of the electorate.

According to Tambuwal, the problem of vote manipulation is systemic, occurring “at the polling unit, at the ward level, at local government level, at the state level or even at the national level.” He alleged that the integrity of the system is compromised by politicians who exploit loopholes and by some officials within the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) who are susceptible to compromise.

The senator argued that these combined factors—actions by politicians, weaknesses within INEC, and subsequent judicial challenges—create a scenario where the final results often “misrepresent what voters actually vote,” leading to outcomes that do not fully reflect the choices made by citizens.