How Jason Omu aims to shake up Nigeria’s electoral process

As concerns about election credibility persist, one Nigerian entrepreneur is taking a technology-first approach to the problem.

Jason Omu, an entrepreneur in residence at Fast Forward Venture Studio, is developing an election monitoring system that uses AI, GPS, and cryptographic security to improve transparency and accountability at the polls.

The University of Lagos first-class graduate in Finance said the ‘Pawavox’ is a field evidence platform. “Election observers, journalists, and human rights defenders use it to record a report from wherever they are.”

“Every report is GPS-tagged, timestamped, AI-translated, and cryptographically signed on a decentralized protocol called Nostr, so it can’t be edited or taken down after the fact.”

Jason emphasised that his team built it for Nigeria’s 2027 cycle specifically, though the same infrastructure holds up anywhere; evidence needs to survive someone with a reason to deny it.

He was inspired to Pawavox through the Fast Forward Venture Studio EIR programme, where he met Opeyemi Awoyemi, and he was recruited.

According to the tech expert, “Pawavox was one of three companies on offer to be built, and I chose it.  We initially built the product for retail and QSR verticals, checking things like stock and service compliance for businesses like Bukka Hut and Shoprite.

“The pivot into election monitoring happened once we understood the real strength of what we’d built, evidence that can’t be quietly edited or denied after the fact.”

He pointed out the gap in Nigeria’s election monitoring when he said that observers were filing reports through WhatsApp groups, and by the time a coordinator had a full picture, an incident had already escalated or been denied, with nothing on record to dispute it.

“That’s a much higher-stakes version of the same integrity problem we were already solving in retail. With 2027 approaching, it also became the version that mattered most right now,” he noted.

Speaking about his expansion drive, Jason said, “We launched on the App Store and Play Store last month. Since then, we’ve presented at AOS Convergence and the Oslo Freedom Forum, won Best Innovation at AOS for a separate mesh networking tool built there, and the Human Rights Foundation’s Bitcoin Development Fund has our application in active review.

“We’re running a live survey partnership with a child safety research group, and we’re in active pilot conversations with several Nigerian civil society organisations ahead of 2027.”

Pawavox reports system, he noted, is what makes it unique, with GPS pinned, timestamped, and cryptographically signed the moment they’re filed, published to a decentralised protocol instead of a database the device controls, so nobody can quietly edit or delete one afterwards.

Jason explained that Nigeria’s 2027 cycle will be the most contested in years, and the evidence layer underneath it has not caught up to the rest of the stack.

“INEC has BVAS for accreditation and IReV for results, but nothing that makes what an observer sees on the ground hold up later.

“That gap is the opportunity, not just for us but for anyone serious about civic infrastructure in Africa right now,” he said.

Like every other business, he disclosed that one of the challenges the business is facing is that the technology moves faster than the institutions it’s built for.

“Civil society organisations want this, but budget cycles, internal sign-off, and funder timelines all move more slowly than a six-month build.

“The hardest part hasn’t been the product; it’s getting in front of the right person before the window on a decision closes,” he stressed.

To address the challenge, he said the firm tweaks payment modalities; instead of asking cash-strapped NGOs to carry a new tool in their budget, the firm goes to funders directly.

“That removes the financial objection entirely, and it’s moved conversations faster than anything else we’ve tried,” he noted.

Jason encourages young entrepreneurs to test the product before they build it.

“Iteration after the fact costs more than money; it costs time and effort you don’t get back. Before you build anything, talk to the actual customer.

“Ask if they would pay for it, and at what price. Ask what they would change,” he said.