Former Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has said his political movement will develop a parallel system modelled on the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) Result Viewing Portal (IReV) to improve transparency and help protect votes during future elections.
Obi explained that the proposed initiative would allow his supporters and election observers to independently collect, document and track polling-unit results, providing an additional layer of verification alongside INEC’s official results platform.
INEC’s IReV allows polling-unit result sheets to be uploaded and viewed publicly, enabling stakeholders to monitor results before the completion of the official collation process.
Obi made the remarks during an exclusive interview with journalists while discussing electoral transparency and the need to ensure that votes cast by Nigerians are properly accounted for.
He said the objective was not to replace INEC’s statutory role but to ensure that citizens and political supporters have their own independently documented records of results from polling units.
“What we are saying is that we are prepared to ensure that our votes count — and they must count,” Obi said.
The former Anambra State governor also addressed his recent interaction with supporters in Port Harcourt, saying the meeting was primarily about listening to their concerns rather than delivering a political speech.
“What I did in Port Harcourt was more about listening to the people. I was not doing the talking,” he said.
Obi recalled that one of the participants told him, “This time, we are ready to die for our votes.” He said his response that he was ready to “die with them” was symbolic and intended to demonstrate his determination to defend the integrity of the electoral process.
He maintained that the focus should be on ensuring that every vote cast is properly recorded, verified and reflected in the final outcome.
The proposed parallel verification system would potentially rely on election-day structures, party agents, observers and technology to capture polling-unit results and compare them with results subsequently published through official channels.
Obi’s comments come as political actors begin preparing for the 2027 elections, with electoral transparency, result transmission and vote protection expected to remain major issues in the political debate.
His proposal effectively seeks to give voters and political organisations an independent means of verifying results, rather than relying solely on the official results-management process.
