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By Sunday Ani
Political economist, Prof Pat Utomi, human rights lawyer, Femi Falana and humanitarian activist, Kennedy Iyere, have unveiled the Nigerian Youths and Women Political Emancipation Movement (NYWOPEM) and formally launched the #FixNASS2027 civic campaign in Lagos.
The unveiling, organised by the Youths Off The Street Initiative (YOTSI), brought together stakeholders from across political platforms, civil society, youth groups, religious bodies and women-led organisations.
Speaking at the event earlier today, Iyere, who is also the founder of YOTSI and 40Million Ballots Movement, as well as the convener of the movement said NIYWOPEN was conceived in response to what he described as the persistent under representation of youths and women in governance despite their voting numerical strength, which exceeds 60 percent of the voting populace.
According to him, while young people and women constitute a significant proportion of registered voters, their representation in the National Assembly and other elective political positions, remains comparatively low.
He argued that the imbalance has limited inclusive policy making and weakened public accountability.
He explained that NIYWOPEM seeks to provide a unifying electoral engagement platform through which youths and women can politically network towards electing themselves into political offices and also ensuring that their voting power is well exercised in deciding winners of elections in Nigeria, thereby enforcing responsible leadership that compels accountable governance through democratic means.
At the event, the group also launched ‘#FixNASS2027,’ a national political sensitisation campaign and grassroots voters mobilisation movement, championed by both the ordinary Nigerians and concerned elites alike and aimed to help provide a unified peer-to-peer electoral engagement, networking, sensitisation and mass mobilisation platform, where voters, especially youths and women, will be able to join forces to run for legislative offices in 2027 at the federal and state levels.
It will also help other credible and patriotic Nigerians to win legislative seats, in replacement of those currently in office, who have shown lack of independence, functionality, patriotism and respect for the electorates by their refusal to approve the electronic transmission of results in the new electoral act amendment bill, which, indeed, is the desire of every Nigerian.
“The need to entrench a people-driven functional Nigerian federal and state legislature, calls for the launch of #FixNASS2027 and that’s what we have done today.
“Our gratitude goes to Prof. Pat Utomi and Femi Falana, for the roles they have played, as key patrons of this movement. It is time for Nigerian youths and women to reverse the elite political dominance by using their voting power as a tool,” Iyere said.
He described the initiative as a call for political reawakening, urging Nigerians to deploy their voting power strategically to demand performance and transparency from lawmakers.
He clarified that the movement is not affiliated to any political party, stating that its focus is on identifying and supporting individuals with exemplary competence and capacity, regardless of the party platform.
He added that prospective legislative candidates endorsed by the movement would be required to commit to written social contracts to ensure accountability.
He further called on Nigerians to mount more pressures on their Senators and House of Representatives members towards pushing for their unconditional approval of real-time electronic transmission of results, as demanded by Nigerians.
He affirmed that several civil society groups had been bought over by politicians, hence their decision not to mount more pressures on their political paymasters.
Iyere said that #FixNASS2027 would provide a lawful and peaceful civic platform, where the advocacy and activism for the new electoral law passage shall be taken to the houses and constituency offices of the members of the current 10th National Assembly.
He emphasised that the movement’s activities would remain non-violent and grounded in constitutional rights.
Falana called on the National Assembly to urgently amend the Electoral Act to make the electronic transmission of election results from polling units to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) central server compulsory.
He said the demand had become necessary following the 2023 general elections and subsequent Supreme Court’s judgments, which held that electronic transmission of results was optional under the current law.
According to him, ahead of the 2023 elections, INEC had assured Nigerians based on its guidelines and provisions of the Electoral Act that accreditation would be conducted using the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and that results would be electronically transmitted from polling units.
On his part, Utomi said the formal launch of NIYWOPEN and FixNASS2027 signals the beginning of sustained mobilisation efforts aimed at strengthening democratic participation and expanding opportunities for youths and women in Nigeria’s political landscape.
He reinforced the call for mandatory electronic transmission, describing arguments about network limitations as unfounded.
He maintained that once polling unit results were captured electronically, they could be uploaded once connectivity was available, rendering network concerns insufficient grounds for abandoning the system.
He compared the process to digital banking platforms widely used across Nigeria, arguing that similar technology has proven reliable in financial transactions.
He warned lawmakers against actions that could undermine electoral credibility, stating that history would judge harshly any attempt to sustain processes that enable manipulation.
