Ahead of the 2027 elections, a lecturer in the Department of Political Science and International Relations at Nile University of Nigeria, Dr. Iroro S. Izu, has called for the unbundling of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Speaking on Tuesday in Abuja at a political dialogue on election credibility thresholds in Nigeria, organised by the African Centre for Leadership, Strategy, and Development (Centre LSD), he stated that the credibility of an election entails the openness of the system and the conscious assurance of all-dimensional involvement of different strata and genders of society.

He stressed that the system needs to be non-discriminatory, non-judgemental, and non-prejudicial, stressing predictability, certainty, probity, and measurability of actions, inactions, and reactions vis-à-vis extant electoral laws and relevant institutional frameworks.

The major stakeholders in the electoral process include INEC, political parties, the media, security personnel, and voters.

The university don also called on the electoral umpire to create more polling units to make voting centres easier, more convenient, and more accessible.

He added that traditional rulers and religious leaders should be co-opted into sensitisation campaigns and appeals to the consciences of all stakeholders involved in the electoral process.

He also stressed the need to conduct all elections in one day to avoid the continued subtle disenfranchisement of many voters due to lethargy or voter fatigue.

According to him, it is in everyone’s interest for elections to be conducted in a manner that meets basic credibility thresholds—built on a system of transparency, accountability, inclusiveness, empathy, accessibility, convenience, security, flexibility, systematisation, and predictability.

Izu said: “Transparency and accountability checkers should be developed and used to gauge the operational credibility of key stakeholders (INEC, political parties, media, security personnel, and voters) in the electoral process in Nigeria.

“Existing constituencies should undergo new demarcation to create more polling units that will make voting centres easier, more convenient, and more accessible.

“As recommended by the Mohammed Uwais Electoral Reform Commission, INEC should be unbundled into several independent entities for the purposes of efficiency and effectiveness. One such entity should handle election offenses, another should oversee the conduct of political parties, especially in the area of primary elections, and a third could focus on the massive reorientation of citizens, politicians, security personnel, and other stakeholders.

“Civil society organisations with vast experience in election matters should be engaged in the training and retraining of election workers and in election monitoring. INEC, as an impartial player in the electoral process, should use any legal measures to execute and achieve its mandate.

“INEC should make it an official policy to prioritise the use of political science and statistics graduates in election duties. This is because, most times, INEC staffers who engage in questionable dealings during elections do so out of ignorance of how the process should work. While they receive training, it is often too short, abrupt, and inconclusive.”

In his welcome address, Director of Strategy at Centre LSD, Mr. Itia Otabor, said that through the policy dialogue, the Centre aims to identify practical solutions to challenges facing credible elections and develop a roadmap for implementing reforms that will strengthen the integrity of electoral processes.

“We will explore innovative approaches to voter registration, voting systems, and electoral dispute resolution, among other critical areas.

“In implementing Centre LSD’s approach to electoral work, we will adopt the electoral cycle approach and embed election-related activities into a holistic cycle, focusing on pre-election, election day, and post-election phases.”

While some speakers lamented rigging, vote-buying, thuggery, and other challenges that characterise Nigeria’s elections, others believed the country has made progress in its electoral process.

For Dr. Otive Igbuzor, it does not reflect well on the country’s democracy that nine million Nigerians—representing just 26 per cent of the country’s 200 million population—played a decisive role in electing President Bola Ahmed Tinubu at the polls.

He noted: “That pillar of our work is very important to us. Why is it that people don’t vote in Nigeria, and what can we do to make them vote? And then the last pillar, pillar four, is monitoring key stakeholders in the electoral process. What we are doing today is dealing with the credibility of elections.

“So we want to have indices to measure credibility. Our aspiration is to create an index—just like the poverty index—so that if there is an election in the U.S., we go there and use the index to measure it. If there is an election in Ghana, we go to Ghana and use the index to measure it. That is our aspiration.”

He said that despite the challenges associated with democratic rule in Nigeria, it remains preferable to military rule.

For Ezenwa Nwagwu of the Peering Advocacy and Advancement Centre in Africa (PAACA), much has been achieved in Nigeria’s electoral process since the return to democratic rule in 1999.

He cited the deployment of BIVAS, which has curtailed the challenges associated with vote rigging and manipulation, as a significant milestone.

Acknowledging that the adoption of Justice Uwais recommendation is a welcome development, he remarked that in addressing the credibility threshold of elections, any solutions—whether administrative or legislative—should consider the contemporary challenges facing the electoral system.