What NDC Will Do To Protect Votes In 2027 – Aisha Yesufu

Aisha Yesufu, a key ally of the National Democratic Congress presidential candidate Peter Obi, has declared that the opposition coalition will deploy an extensive nationwide network of election agents and polling unit councils in 2027 to protect votes from individual polling stations through every collation stage to the final declaration in Abuja.

Speaking as a guest on Channels Television’s Politics Today program on Thursday, September 10, 2026, Yesufu stated that the tactical framework was informed by critical lessons learned during the 2023 presidential election, emphasizing that opposition voters can no longer rely solely on state electoral institutions to safeguard their ballots.

Outlining the coalition’s security stance, Yesufu stated, “We have our own alternative means of ensuring that we are protected.”

She explained that trained supporters will maintain continuous physical surveillance over election materials and result sheets across polling units, ward centers, local government collation areas, state hubs, and the central election command.

Detailing the logistical plan to prevent electoral tampering during transit, she declared, “There is no time that any ballot paper, any ballot box, result sheet or the individual will be out of our sight.”

She added, “We will follow them using bikes, we will follow them using boats, we will follow them by air,” affirming that logistics teams will track election officials until final totals are officially announced.

Reaffirming the core objective of the grassroots deployment, Yesufu stressed, “We will ensure that no vote is changed from where it is voted and entered in to the place where the INEC chairman declares the final result.”

She noted that the 2027 strategy shifts focus from campaign rallies to local precinct control, stating, “It’s not going to be at the rallies only. For me, my own is to be at the streets at every polling unit, that we must take over every polling unit and ensure that every vote is protected.”

Revealing ongoing organizational work at the grassroots level, she noted, “At every polling unit, right, we have a council. We have at least nothing less than 20, 50, 100 depending on the polling units already mapping that out.”

Reflecting on the previous general election, Yesufu emphasized, “The lesson from 2023 is that there’s no place of trusting the system or thinking that the institutions are going to do the right thing.”

Her comments coincide with recent statements by NDC presidential candidate Peter Obi, who similarly charged supporters to actively monitor and defend their votes from polling units to final collation.