No Election Is Perfect Anywhere – Fashola Tells Opposition to Accept Results

No Election Is Perfect Anywhere – Fashola Tells Opposition to Accept Results

LAGOS – Former Lagos State Governor and ex-Minister of Works, Housing and Power, Babatunde Fashola, has declared that elections are inherently imperfect exercises, urging Nigerian opposition politicians to stop faulting outcomes and instead accept results while embracing their democratic role.

Speaking on Friday at The Platform, a public policy forum organised by the Covenant Christian Centre and led by Pastor Poju Oyemade as part of activities marking Democracy Day, Fashola laid bare the logistical scale of Nigerian elections to explain why absolute perfection remains unattainable.

According to the former minister, Nigeria conducts presidential elections across more than 176,000 polling units simultaneously, with officials and voters expected to perform identical tasks under vastly different conditions. This reality, he argued, makes flawless elections a practical impossibility anywhere in the world.

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

He then challenged his listeners directly, posing a fundamental question about democratic conduct: “Do we agree as a people that elections are an imperfect event all over the world? They are never perfect because it is a large and challenging logistic undertaking. So, perfection is aspirational.”

Explaining the inherent difficulties of nationwide polls, Fashola noted that the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) cannot be present at every polling unit to supervise or verify procedures. He asked pointedly: “And so, with imperfections, are we agreed that we should accept the results? Or are we agreed that it must be INEC’s fault? Even when the INEC chairman cannot be in all of those 176,000 polling stations.”

READ ALSO:

• Elon Musk Becomes World’s First Trillionaire After SpaceX IPO Valuation Surge
• Iran to US: No Deal Unless We Keep Enriching Uranium & Controlling Hormuz
• Sowore Collapses as Tear Gas Disrupts Democracy Day Protest in Abuja

The former governor argued that electoral imperfections are not unique to Nigeria. He noted that even long-established democracies acknowledge such challenges while continually seeking ways to improve their electoral systems rather than undermining public confidence in democratic outcomes.

“In other jurisdictions, they recognise the imperfections, they aspire to improve, but they accept the results. They move peacefully and calmly to take up the position of opposition,” Fashola stated.

He expressed concern over what he described as a growing reluctance among some political actors to accept electoral defeat, warning that such attitudes weaken democratic development and prevent unsuccessful candidates and parties from playing constructive opposition roles.

“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 politics plays a critical role in democratic governance and should not be viewed solely through the lens of electoral victory or defeat. He declared that “the role of opposition is as important, if not more important, than the role of those in government.”

Reflecting on the significance of June 12 as Democracy Day, Fashola recalled the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election, describing it as a turning point in Nigeria’s democratic journey.

“This should have been an ordinary day, just another ordinary day. We had gone to vote and we had expected while we were monitoring the results that the votes would be counted. Then the abnormal happened. The votes were stopped, the elections were subsequently annulled and June 12 became not just a date anymore, it became an event, a cause and a movement, an agitation that took local, international and global centre stage,” he said.

The former minister stressed that democracy extends far beyond the conduct of elections. He urged citizens and political leaders to engage in deeper conversations about the kind of democratic culture Nigeria seeks to build.

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

Fashola also called for national consensus on critical governance issues such as taxation, foreign policy, parliamentary oversight, healthcare, education funding, labour relations and political party accountability. On taxation, he questioned whether political parties had clearly articulated their positions during recent debates on fiscal reforms.

“Can you truly have a representative government, a democratic government, without a debate about taxation? That is the basis of representation,” he said.

Addressing the broader function of consensus in democracy, Fashola noted that agreement across party lines does not weaken opposition politics. “Consensus does not disable opposition. On the contrary, it sharpens the alternative that they represent,” he stated.

The former minister further challenged Nigerians to reflect on the country’s identity, asking whether Nigeria should be regarded primarily as a nation or merely a country. “Are we a nation or are we a country? We use those words somewhat interchangeably, but they mean different things,” he said.

In a separate disclosure during a panel discussion at the same event, Fashola revealed that he did not receive security votes at any point during his eight years as governor of Lagos State. He explained that all funds belonging to the state government during his administration were managed through established institutional channels rather than being placed under the direct control of the governor, with revenues domiciled within the state’s Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning.

Fashola maintained that while elections remain a vital component of democracy, the true test of democratic maturity lies in the ability of institutions, political actors and citizens to uphold democratic values even after the ballots have been counted.

His remarks formed part of broader discussions at The Platform on the state of Nigeria’s democracy, governance, accountability and the responsibilities of citizens and political leaders in sustaining democratic institutions. The event was held at the Covenant Christian Centre in Lagos as part of activities marking the June 12, 2026 Democracy Day celebration.

No Election Is Perfect Anywhere – Fashola Tells Opposition to Accept Results