The safety of displaced Nigerians travelling back to their communities could become a major challenge to their participation in the 2027 elections, stakeholders have said at a meeting in Abuja.
The issue was examined during a two-day stakeholder engagement organised by TAF Africa on 25 and 26 August under the European Union’s Support to Democratic Governance in Nigeria programme.
The meeting examined how Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) could take part in the electoral process and how barriers to voting could be reduced ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Participants included representatives of the Independent National Electoral Commission, the National Emergency Management Agency, State Emergency Management Agencies, civil society organisations and leaders of IDP communities.
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The European Union backed the engagement, which focused on the implementation of INEC’s framework for voting by internally displaced persons and the difficulties that could stop displaced Nigerians from exercising their right to vote.
The issue has become important because many displaced Nigerians are living away from the places where they were registered as voters.
Return trips raise security fears
Many IDPs were separated from their communities of origin by insurgency, banditry and other emergencies. Their displacement can create problems with voter registration services, collection of Permanent Voter Cards and travel to the locations where they are registered.
John Gwamma, chairman of an IDP camp in Borno State, said returning to communities of origin to vote could expose displaced people to serious security risks.
He cited the journey from Maiduguri to Gaza as an example, recalling an attack during the 2023 election period.
“We have to travel down from Maiduguri to Gaza. But on the way to Gaza to vote, there’s a very big challenge ahead of us,” Gwamma said, recalling how Boko Haram ambushed travellers on the Bama Road during the 2023 election.
He said elderly displaced persons could face even greater difficulty because of the long journeys involved in returning to their places of origin.
The situation has led stakeholders at the Abuja meeting to seek voting arrangements that would allow IDPs to participate without having to travel back to areas from which they were displaced.
The acting Director-General of the Borno State Emergency Management Agency, Yagana Abadam, appealed to INEC to consider allowing displaced residents to vote from their present locations.
“We are appealing: if INEC can create a polling booth for our ward so we can vote here in Maiduguri,” she said.
Her proposal centred on providing a polling point in Maiduguri for displaced residents whose wards are elsewhere, reducing the need for them to undertake potentially dangerous journeys before exercising their franchise.
The request puts the practical difficulty of voting at the pinnacle of the discussion, especially for people who cannot safely return to their former communities.
Electoral agencies consider inclusion
The Abuja engagement also examined the need for cooperation between electoral authorities, emergency management agencies and civil society groups.
Jennifer Dafwat, Senior Communications Officer at TAF Africa, said the meeting was intended to bring relevant stakeholders together to find practical answers to electoral exclusion.
Dafwat said, “today is about building a nation where no voice is left behind. In this room, we’re here to tackle the issue of electoral exclusion of persons with disabilities.”
“We have the voices necessary to ideate, identify, and produce solutions necessary for promoting an inclusive Nigeria,” she said.
Director of the Gender and Inclusivity Department at INEC, Lakunuya Bello, welcomed the engagement and said cooperation among electoral authorities, civil society groups and emergency management agencies could help advocacy for IDP participation.
“This initiative is very wonderful, and we are hoping that with this engagement, things will improve more.
The meeting took place as preparations for the 2027 elections continued. INEC concluded the nationwide Continuous Voter Registration exercise in July and has started cleaning and auditing the voter register ahead of the polls.
The EU-supported engagement placed practical access before the election as an issue requiring attention from the agencies involved in the electoral process.
TAF Africa said the engagement is expected to contribute to a joint roadmap covering voter education, advocacy and practical measures to improve electoral participation among displaced Nigerians.
Such measures would address the problems identified at the meeting, including access to voter registration services, collection of Permanent Voter Cards and the difficulty of travelling from displacement locations to communities of origin.
The discussions also gave IDP representatives an opportunity to present the security difficulties they face directly to electoral and emergency management authorities.
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