Elections are imperfect, Fashola urges opposition to accept outcomes

Former Lagos State Governor and ex-Minister of Works, Housing and Power, Babatunde Fashola, has urged Nigerians to view elections as inherently imperfect exercises and to focus on strengthening democratic institutions rather than continually disputing electoral outcomes.

Speaking on Friday at The Platform, a public policy forum held in Lagos as part of activities marking Democracy Day, Fashola said the complexity of conducting nationwide elections makes absolute perfection difficult to attain, Vanguard reports.

According to him, large-scale electoral exercises, particularly presidential elections, involve extensive logistical operations across the federation, creating challenges that no electoral body can entirely eliminate.

“Elections are an imperfect event because they require a large logistical operation across a federation,” Fashola said.

He explained that thousands of polling units across the country are expected to carry out the same procedures simultaneously, often under different conditions and circumstances.

“The reality of a presidential election is that all polling units across the nation have to be doing the same thing at the same time. The question then is how we assign blame when things go wrong, especially when the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission cannot be everywhere at the same time,” he stated.

Fashola noted that electoral shortcomings are not unique to Nigeria, arguing that even long-established democracies acknowledge such challenges while working to improve their systems over time.

He said mature democracies recognise that elections may not always be flawless but continue to strengthen institutions and processes without undermining public confidence in democratic outcomes.

“In other jurisdictions, they accept these imperfections and aspire to improve, but they also accept the results,” he said.

The former minister further expressed concern over what he described as a growing tendency among some political actors to reject election results, warning that such attitudes could hinder democratic growth and stability.

“It seems to me that an unwillingness to accept the outcome of an election perhaps blinds the unsuccessful participants from seeking and taking up the role of opposition for the development of society,” he said.

Fashola emphasised that opposition parties have a vital role to play in democratic governance and should contribute to national development regardless of electoral outcomes.

He also stressed that democracy should not be reduced solely to elections, urging citizens and political leaders to engage in broader conversations about democratic values and governance.

“If we are to discuss democracy beyond elections, the question I ask is: What kind of democracy do we want?” he asked.

His remarks formed part of wider discussions at The Platform on the state of Nigeria’s democracy, governance, accountability, and the responsibilities of both leaders and citizens in sustaining democratic institutions.

Fashola maintained that while elections remain a fundamental pillar of democracy, the true measure of democratic maturity lies in the ability of institutions, political actors, and citizens to uphold democratic principles long after the ballots have been counted.