Blockchain technology stakeholders have advocated its adoption to boost transparency and voter confidence in Nigeria’s elections, proposing a phased integration starting with result transmission and voter registration.
The call came during an X Space hosted by the Stakeholders in Blockchain Technology Association of Nigeria (SiBAN), themed ‘From Ballot to Blocks: Can Blockchain Fix Nigeria’s Elections?’, featuring experts like Oluwaseun Dania of Alpha-Geek Technologies and Harry Ugorji of Egoras Technology.
SiBAN President Mela Claude Ake and INEC Lagos Voter Education Head Taiwo Gbadegesin joined discussions emphasising blockchain’s role in preventing result manipulation without overhauling the entire voting process.
Experts recommended a hybrid model, shifting National Identification Numbers (NIN) and voter registers to blockchain for immutability, alongside AI-assisted scanning of EC8A forms for real-time result uploads via IPFS.
Dania highlighted that blockchain protects vote integrity from polling units to collation centres, potentially reversing voter apathy by ensuring global verifiability, while Ugorji suggested testing on party systems to bypass gas fee issues.
Gbadegesin, represented by Ayopo Lawal, detailed INEC’s online pre-registration streamlining Continuous Voter Registration (CVR), limiting in-person visits to biometrics for under-five-minute processing.
Panelists urged pilot programmes in university student unions and secondary school polls to build trust before national rollout, with SiBAN offering advisory support to INEC amid challenges like low internet penetration.
The consensus stressed regulatory buy-in for a verifiable system where recorded data remains tamper-proof, positioning blockchain as a tool for sustained electoral reform.
