Outspoken political reform advocate and former Chairman of the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC), Chief Peter Ameh, has faulted the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) proposed amendment to Section 65 of the Electoral Act, describing it as a dangerous ploy to legalize electoral manipulation.

In a strongly worded statement on Tuesday, Chief Ameh denounced the amendment as unnecessary and anti-democratic, arguing that it seeks to give undue powers to INEC officials to tamper with results already declared at polling units.

“If INEC staff are neutral and respect polling unit results, there would be no justification for this kind of draconian law,” he said. “This proposal reeks of a flawed system and reveals INEC’s continued failure to embrace transparency.”
Section 65, if amended as proposed, would allow INEC returning officers to review and potentially overturn results, even after they have been announced—a move critics say could lead to post-election interference and backroom adjustments of outcomes.

Chief Ameh insisted that rather than empowering officials at the national level to reverse decisions made at the polling unit level, INEC must enforce real-time, mandatory uploads of results to the IReV portal.

“That is the only credible safeguard for the people’s mandate,” he declared. “Any reform that avoids this central demand is just a smokescreen.”

The former IPAC leader also called out INEC for failing to address the high cost of conducting elections, calling it a major contributor to political exclusion and inefficiency. He urged the commission to propose legislation that would allow all elections to be held on a single day.

“One-day elections will reduce costs, boost voter turnout, and simplify logistics,” Ameh noted. “Dragging the process over several weeks only promotes apathy and manipulation.”

Chief Ameh warned that the current trajectory of INEC risks further alienating Nigerians and damaging the electoral process.

“INEC should abandon these deceptive reforms and focus on building a truly independent, transparent, and credible electoral system,” he said. “Nigerians cannot stand idly by while our democracy is hijacked.”

He called on civil society, opposition parties, and the general public to vigorously resist any amendment that weakens voter sovereignty or enables electoral interference.

“This is not just about Section 65. It’s about the soul of our democracy,” he said.