By Innocent Anaba

Stakeholders have called for comprehensive data protection assessments across Nigeria’s electoral ecosystem ahead of the 2027 general elections, warning that the increasing deployment of digital technologies in the electoral process has heightened the risks of personal data misuse.

The stakeholders, who spoke during a webinar organised by the Digital Rights Lawyers Initiative, DRLI, with support from Luminate, stressed that protecting voters’ personal information is critical to strengthening public trust and the credibility of future elections.

The webinar, themed “2027 General Elections, Voters’ Privacy and Public Trust: Matters Arising,” brought together experts in data protection, electoral governance, human rights and digital rights advocacy.

Speaking at the event, Senior Programme Officer at the Policy and Innovation Network, PIN, Khadijah El-Usman, said Nigeria’s elections have become increasingly data-driven, with voter information now collected through biometric registration and technologies such as the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, BVAS.

She noted that concerns over data protection extend beyond the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to telecommunications companies, political parties, campaign organisations and other institutions involved in the electoral process.

According to her, organisations handling voter information must clearly define the personal data they collect, the purpose for collecting it, who has access to it, how it is stored, shared and eventually disposed of.

El-Usman warned that weak data governance could expose sensitive information to misuse, intimidation and political profiling.

She cited reported cases of internal data leaks and abuse of authorised access as evidence of the need for stronger accountability mechanisms, role-based access controls, continuous monitoring and independent cybersecurity audits.

Also speaking, Deputy Director of the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, SERAP, Oluwadare Kolawole, described privacy as a fundamental pillar of democratic governance, saying citizens must be able to participate freely in elections without fear of surveillance, intimidation or misuse of their personal information.

He argued that confidence in the electoral process depends largely on voters’ trust that their data will not be weaponised because of their political choices.

Kolawole referred to the controversy surrounding the leaked voter registration details of Nollywood actor Emeka Ike as an indication of the dangers posed by inadequate data protection.

He further cautioned against political profiling and online labelling of citizens based on their political opinions, warning that such practices could discourage civic participation and weaken democracy.

lawyer and Principal Counsel at Inibehe Effiong Chambers, Inibehe Effiong, said although Section 37 of the 1999 Constitution guarantees the right to privacy and the Nigerian Data Protection Act, NDPA, 2023 provides statutory safeguards, concerns remain over INEC’s ability to effectively protect voters’ personal information.

He recalled previous incidents involving discarded Permanent Voter Cards, PVCs, inaccuracies in the voters’ register and the recent controversy over actor Emeka Ike’s voter information, saying the incidents pointed to broader institutional weaknesses rather than isolated cases.

He urged Nigerians and civil society organisations to continue demanding greater accountability from INEC before, during and after the 2027 general elections, while also calling for more transparency over unresolved concerns surrounding the commission’s Result Viewing Portal, IReV.

On her part, Head of Research, Monitoring and Evaluation at Yiaga Africa, Safiya Bichi, said the increasing use of digital technology and Artificial Intelligence, AI, in elections makes data protection an essential component of credible polls.