Public affairs analyst, Dr Ibrahim Modibo, has urged INEC staff to remain dispassionate and resist inducements as the commission prepares for the 2027 general elections, stressing the need for a free, fair and credible electoral process.
He said this in an interview on Arise News on Tuesday.
Modibo added that improved salaries alone cannot guarantee electoral integrity, noting that INEC officials must remain guided by the responsibilities of their office and resist attempts by political actors to influence their conduct.
“If you look at the INEC staff, there have been a lot of accusations and criticism of the staff for being manipulated by way of inducements.
“I strongly believe that INEC should be guided by the tenets of the job they have undertaken. They should be able to do this dispassionately within the Nigerian context to give Nigerians a very free, fair, and credible election that will be able to be in sync and in tune with the international benchmark so that it will be able to maintain the minimum standard, because anything short of that, the international community and also Nigerians will not agree to it.”
Encouraging Nigerians to approach INEC Chairman, Professor Joash Amupitan’s assurances with cautious optimism, Modibo stressed that the credibility of the commission’s preparations will ultimately depend on effective implementation.
“When you look at it from a wider perspective, to me, there is a need for Nigerians to look at what he has been able to say in that press conference with cautious optimism. Cautious optimism in the sense that, look, to say one thing is good, but how is the implementation process going to be?”
Cautioning against relying solely on technology to guarantee electoral integrity, Dr Modibo said systems such as BVAS and artificial intelligence remain susceptible to human manipulation.
“All these things can be manipulated by human intelligence. Why do I say so? Because a lot of times with all the BVAS, the PVCs, and what have you, there have been people that could manipulate the system.”
Highlighting the factors that must be critically examined ahead of the election, Modibo raised concerns over political party financing, campaign spending, vote-buying and INEC’s capacity to enforce electoral regulations.
“So, what we need to do is it’s a welcome idea, but that is not to say that it could not be manipulated, because to me, there are factors that need to be examined critically before we go into that election.
“That’s why I said we have to look at the issues with cautious optimism, and I thought there’d be a follow-up question on that. What about the finances—financing of political parties? How is INEC going to look dispassionately towards saving Nigerians from unnecessary expenditure when it comes to the issue of electoral general electioneering?
“Also, we have to look at the issue of security. Now, the danger is, as we are approaching the elections, has INEC been able to come up with a foolproof solution towards trying to save our young generation, especially the Youth Corp members? Even the security agencies, have they been able to make foolproof arrangements towards securing these people so that Nigerians could go and vote free, fair, and transparent voting?”
Commending voters’ resilience during the recent Osun election, Modibo urged opposition parties to work together to safeguard votes, strengthen the collation process and ensure that results uploaded on IReV correspond with those announced at collation centres.
He stressed the need for parties to verify results from polling units and use available technology to prevent manipulation and ensure that voters are not cheated.
“I am so happy of what I saw during the last elections in Osun. If you look at people after voting, I must commend women, the aged. Women formed almost 80 to 90% of the electoral list that stood their ground. They stood in rain, come rain, come shine at that point at that election. They stood and then they waited for the votes to be counted. And the youth, being the vanguard, they mobilized and also transported the results to the last collation unit.
“So, what we need to do at this point in time is for the opposition parties to team up. Let them forget about APC, ADC, PDP—let them form a team to safeguard this democracy by way of making sure that all their votes are counted. The use of PVCs is there. The use of IReV is also guaranteed, and then make sure that it tallies with the result that will be announced so that you take it, because there’s technology now. Whether we like it or not, we can make sure that we are not cheated.”
Reacting to INEC’s claim that Nigeria now has over 103 million registered voters ahead of the 2027 general elections, Modibo questioned the significance of the figure, arguing that voter registration numbers do not necessarily translate into actual electoral participation.
“The numbers, when it comes to elections, it doesn’t count. Because for me, you have to have a voter’s card. You have to register. So, if after the registration, a lot of people in this country—look at last time, we had over 90-something million, but what was the result? In total, the result was not more than 25 to 30 million. 30 to 32 million. That means it’s less than one-third of voters that were registered. This is not going to be different.
“Therefore, most of the people are peasants that will be able to come out, stand in the sun, wait for the election result, and what have you. But the big people will not do that. Let me say that democracy is a government of the poor, for the poor, and by the poor.”
Favour Odima
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