Title: Beyond the Device: Stakeholder Priorities for Implementing Electoral Technology in Nigeria
Authors: Aluko Opeyemi Idowu, Oyeleke Oyedele Kazeem
Volume: 10
Issue: 9
Pages: 92-101
Publication Date: 2026/09/28
Abstract:
Electoral technology has become a central component of Nigeria's electoral reforms, but technology alone cannot guarantee credible elections. This paper examines the implementation conditions that election stakeholders identify as priorities for making electoral technology effective. It draws on new institutionalism to interpret reform outcomes as products of the interaction among formal rules, organisational capacity, informal practices, and accountability arrangements. The study reports a descriptive cross-sectional survey of party polling agents, security personnel, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) officials, and electoral observers in Oyo, Edo, Kwara, and Kaduna States. An exploratory, non-probability multistage sampling procedure was used. Of 400 questionnaires administered, 341 valid responses were analysed, representing an 85.3% response rate. Data were summarised using frequencies, percentages, means, and standard deviations. Five single-item statements were measured on a five-point scale ranging from strongly disagree to strongly agree. Training and rural infrastructure received the highest mean score (M = 4.20, SD = 0.92), followed by INEC independence (M = 4.11, SD = 0.97), security-agency neutrality (M = 4.09, SD = 0.97), continuous voter education (M = 3.99, SD = 0.99), and penalties for electoral offences (M = 3.80, SD = 1.06). The findings indicate that respondents regarded organisational and institutional conditions as important complements to electoral technology. Because the sample was non-random and the analysis was descriptive, the study does not establish causal effects or national-level prevalence. The paper recommends sustained training, polling-unit-specific infrastructure planning, transparent result management, credible enforcement, neutral security administration, and continuous voter education. It concludes that technology-centred reform should be embedded in a wider institutional accountability strategy.