Director of the Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre, Clement Nwankwo, has said that the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, must ensure transparency in the procurement and management of electoral materials ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Nwankwo, who spoke in an interview with ARISE NEWS on Wednesday, said the commission’s preparations for the January 16, 2027 national elections must go beyond funding to include transparency in the procurement of sensitive electoral materials.
He said, “We do have a voter register that has climbed right now up to 103 million-plus. I think for a lot of us who continue to see this voter register climb, we do know where the problem is. And the problem lies much more in the fact that, in a lot of ways, this voter register is very bloated. And this country has not found a way of creating or managing its voter register.”
Nwankwo said although INEC’s funding was important, Nigerians should also be able to scrutinise how the funds are used, particularly in the procurement of electoral materials.
“We all understand the importance of funding the Electoral Commission. But we also want to see transparency in management of funds. We want to see transparency in procurement of materials for elections. Who is the vendor? Who is making the supplies? Are they partisan? Is it, in fact, the Commission that is making this procurement? Or are there people outside of the Commission that are making this procurement for the Commission?” he asked.
On campaign finance, Nwankwo said INEC had a responsibility under the Electoral Act to issue guidelines and enforce spending limits for political parties and candidates.
“The Electoral Act is quite clear in indicating when you begin to calculate election campaign financing. And it says it should be from the date the notice of election is issued. The Commission has the responsibility under the Electoral Act to issue campaign spend limits by parties and by candidates. The Commission has not done this,” he said.
Nwankwo said INEC also had mechanisms to monitor campaign spending and should enforce the penalties provided by law against candidates who exceed the prescribed limits.
“If, for instance, someone running for president has billboards across a city or across a state or across the country, in ways that when you do the calculation, you will see almost immediately that the excess is very evident. Or if a candidate is running campaigns on television or on the radio, you will see immediately, it becomes really apparent how much has been spent,” he said.
He added, “The law is quite clear. You have fines, you have consequences.”
On the credibility of the electoral process, Nwankwo said the lack of effective enforcement mechanisms and transparency in procurement remained major concerns.
“The mechanism for IREV not taking its needed action under the Act and the mechanisms for enforcing the provisions of the Electoral Act regarding some of the offences identified in the Electoral Act is a major constraint on the credibility of any election,” he said.
Addressing concerns over INEC funding and the electronic transmission of election results, Nwankwo said funding was not the commission’s major challenge, stressing that the greater concern was how funds were utilised.
“I don’t think that the funding for conduct of elections in Nigeria is a major challenge. I think the challenge with the funding situation is the procurement process,” he said.
Nwankwo also called for greater transparency in the handling of electoral forms and other sensitive materials, saying, “Those are the issues, I think, much more than whether there is funding or not. I believe that INEC has funding. I believe it has funding support. I believe it will have its funding support to conduct elections.”
Boluwatife Enome
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