Elections are imperfect, Fashola urges opposition to accept outcomes

Former Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola presenting his keynote address at the Nigeria Reputation Summit 2026 held by the NIPR in Abuja on Tuesday. Photo credit: Adebayo Folorunsho-Francis

Former Lagos State Governor and ex-Minister of Works, Housing and Power, Babatunde Fashola, has urged Nigerians to view elections as inherently imperfect exercises and to focus on strengthening democratic institutions rather than continually disputing electoral outcomes.

Speaking on Friday at The Platform, a public policy forum held in Lagos as part of activities marking Democracy Day, Fashola said the complexity of conducting nationwide elections makes absolute perfection difficult to attain, Vanguard reports.

According to him, large-scale electoral exercises, particularly presidential elections, involve extensive logistical operations across the federation, creating challenges that no electoral body can entirely eliminate.

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