The Nigerian Electoral System Explained
Nigeria uses a First-Past-The-Post system for most elections, with a 25% rule: presidential winners must also achieve 25% of votes in at least 24 states. INEC manages 176,846 polling units across 774 LGAs.
Nigeria's electoral system combines simple plurality contests for most offices with extra spread requirements in the presidential race.
How winners are decided
For many elections, the candidate with the highest number of valid votes wins. The presidential election adds a spread requirement: the winner must also reach at least 25 percent of valid votes in at least two-thirds of the states.
Why the spread rule matters
That additional rule is meant to force national reach and reduce the chance that a purely regional plurality is enough to win the presidency. Where no candidate satisfies the constitutional threshold, a further round or additional legal dispute can follow depending on the exact result.
Election administration
INEC oversees the system through a nationwide infrastructure of polling units, collation centres, state offices, and legal procedures that cover accreditation, transmission, collation, and dispute resolution.