Former Lagos State Governor and former Minister of Works, Housing and Power, Babatunde Fashola has said that elections are inherently imperfect exercises, urging Nigerians to appreciate the complexities involved in conducting nationwide polls and focus more on strengthening democratic institutions.
Fashola made the remarks on Friday while speaking at The Platform, a public policy forum organised as part of activities commemorating the 2026 Democracy Day celebration.
According to him, the scale and logistics involved in conducting elections across a federation as large and diverse as Nigeria make it nearly impossible to achieve absolute perfection during the electoral process.
“Elections are an imperfect event because they require a large logistical operation across a federation,” Fashola stated.
He explained that a presidential election requires thousands of polling units spread across the country to simultaneously carry out the same procedures under different conditions, circumstances and environments.
Fashola noted that such a complex operation inevitably presents challenges, making occasional lapses almost unavoidable.
While discussing accountability in the electoral process, he questioned the tendency to place responsibility for every electoral shortcoming on a single individual, particularly the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
“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 said.
The former minister argued that electoral imperfections are not exclusive to Nigeria, pointing out that even advanced democracies continue to grapple with challenges during elections.
According to him, what distinguishes mature democracies is their willingness to acknowledge imperfections while continually improving electoral systems and institutions.
He said many democratic countries focus on refining their processes rather than allowing flaws in elections to undermine public confidence in democracy itself.
“In other jurisdictions, they accept these imperfections and aspire to improve, but they also accept the results,” Fashola added.
He also expressed concern about what he described as a growing tendency among some political actors to reject election outcomes whenever they fail to emerge victorious.
According to him, such attitudes can hinder democratic development and weaken the role of constructive opposition in governance.
Fashola maintained that losing an election should not automatically translate into disengagement from the democratic process.
Instead, he said opposition parties and candidates have an important responsibility to contribute to national development by providing alternative ideas, policies and oversight.
“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.
The former Lagos governor further stressed that democracy should not be reduced solely to the conduct of elections.
He challenged Nigerians to think more deeply about the values, institutions and political culture required to sustain democratic governance.
“If we are to discuss democracy beyond elections, the question I ask is: What kind of democracy do we want?” he asked.
Fashola’s comments formed part of wider discussions at The Platform, where speakers examined issues relating to governance, accountability, democratic development and citizen participation.
He concluded that while elections remain a crucial element of democratic governance, the true measure of a healthy democracy lies in the strength of its institutions and the willingness of citizens and political leaders to uphold democratic principles after elections have been concluded.
According to him, democratic maturity is demonstrated not only by how votes are cast but also by how institutions function, how leaders govern and how citizens engage with the political process between election cycles.
