Nigeria, Nov. 17 -- After every election in Nigeria - especially the contentious ones - a familiar chorus rises: "They will rig it." "Nothing will change." Following the recent off-cycle governorship polls, this chorus has grown louder. On the streets, in offices, and across social media, many Nigerians have already written off the 2027 general elections as a lost cause. The potential impact of the 2027 general elections on Nigeria's future is straightforward and devastating: the system is irredeemably rigged and talk of reform is futile.

In a recent keynote address titled "Making Our Votes Count: Action, the Antidote to Cynicism," Dr Sam Amadi, Director of the Abuja School of Social and Political Thought, pinpointed the real threat this...