By Martin Ekpeke
As Nigeria continues to grapple with the challenges of electoral transparency and voter trust, stakeholders in the blockchain industry are proposing a technological pivot. In an X (formerly Twitter) Space hosted by the Stakeholders in Blockchain Technology Association of Nigeria (SiBAN) today, themed ‘From Ballot to Blocks: Can Blockchain Fix Nigeria’s Elections?’, the experts argued that while blockchain is not a magic wand, it offers a robust framework to eliminate result manipulation and cure voter apathy.
The discussion, featuring key industry figures including Oluwaseun Dania, CEO of Crello Limited, Harry Ugorji, CEO of Egoras Technology, Mela Claude Ake, President of SiBAN and others, highlighted a shift from traditional voting toward a more immutable and verifiable system.
Opening the floor, Oluwaseun Dania noted that while Nigeria’s electoral processes have improved, a crisis of confidence remains the primary hurdle, even as he identified voter apathy as a direct symptom of people feeling their votes are not counted during the transmission and collation stages.
“The real opportunity is actually much simpler. Blockchain is not there to change how Nigerians vote, but to technically protect the integrity of the votes that are cast. People will be more confident knowing that as they are casting their votes, the results are being recorded on the blockchain, visible to everybody all over the world,” Dania explained.
According to him, by providing a time-stamped and properly verified system without the possibility of manipulation, the blockchain technology could incentivize millions of disillusioned citizens to return to the polls.
Despite the enthusiasm, the experts maintained a level of cautious optimism, citing Nigeria’s unique challenges, such as low internet penetration and limited digital literacy.
Dania proposed a hybrid model instead of making an immediate jump to full e-voting, starting with foundational elements, such as moving National Identification Numbers (NIN) and voter registers onto a secure blockchain. He also recommended using blockchain specifically for result transmission to record and audit votes, ensuring no data is altered between polling units and collation centers. Additionally, he advised building simplified, easy-to-use front-end tools so the average voter does not need to understand the underlying complexity of smart contracts.
Contributing to the technical feasibility, Harry Ugorji proposed leveraging existing party systems as a testing ground before a national rollout. He addressed the gas fee problem, suggesting an infrastructure where polling agents sign results with private keys without bearing the cost.
“They have to scan the EC8A form. Once they scan and upload, there should be an AI-based layer that extracts that information and transmits it to the smart contracts. This data can be saved using IPFS (InterPlanetary File System) so that at every point in time, everybody can verify that data,” Ugorji stated.
Ugorji envisioned a data-streaming electoral process where votes are calculated in real-time, removing the black box period where manipulation often occurs.
The consensus among the speakers was that Nigeria should begin implementing these tools at smaller scales, such as university student union elections or secondary school representative polls, to build public trust and technical familiarity.
As the conversation concluded, the experts agreed that while the technology is ready, success depends on regulatory approval and a willingness from stakeholders to embrace a system where data, once recorded, is permanent and beyond the reach of any single authority.