…Says electoral body laying grounds for postponement

The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of deliberately sabotaging itself ahead of the 2027 general elections, warning that the Commission’s repeated failures undermine its credibility and raise serious suspicions of a calculated scheme to extend the dates for the 2027 general elections.

ADC National publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi said despite repeated denials by the Federal Government of a plan to shift election dates, the ADC insists that recent revelations that INEC’s voters’ register contains AI-generated photographs and fictitious entries, particularly following the Commission’s admission that some of its registration officers were responsible for introducing the irregularities, give serious cause for concern.

“If INEC knows that its own officials compromised the voters’ register with AI-generated photographs, why has nobody been arrested? Why have these individuals not been handed over for prosecution? What exactly is INEC waiting for?” the party asked.

The ADC also condemned INEC’s failure to publish the preliminary voters’ register online within the statutory timeframe stipulated by Section 19(1) of the Electoral Act 2026, which requires the register to be made available for public scrutiny not later than 90 days before the general election.

The party noted that Section 19(5) expressly makes failure by an INEC official to comply with the publication requirement a criminal offence, punishable by a fine, imprisonment, or both.

“We are beginning to wonder whether INEC is intentionally trying to make itself incompetent. Because how else do you explain an electoral umpire that had at least three years to prepare for elections, but is suddenly unable or unwilling to produce a credible voters’ register in accordance with the strict requirements of the law? At what point should we stop seeing these repeated failures by INEC as sheer incompetence and start to view them as deliberate acts of sabotage?”

The ADC warned that INEC’s conduct raises legitimate concerns about its willingness to comply with other mandatory provisions of the Electoral Act on Election Day that could make the election credible.

“If INEC can disregard the Electoral Act today, what assurance do Nigerians have that it will obey the law on Election Day? What stops INEC from waking up on election morning to announce that it will not use BVAS, or that it will not use serialised ballot papers, or that it has decided to disregard some other mandatory safeguard? An electoral umpire that regards compliance with the law guiding publication of voter registers as discretionary cannot be trusted to enforce the same law when the stakes are higher.”

The ADC then demands an independent forensic audit of the voters’ register, the identification and investigation of officials implicated in the irregularities, and a full public explanation of INEC’s failure to comply with Section 19 regarding the publication of voters’ register.

“The 2027 elections cannot be left to the discretion of an electoral umpire that appears increasingly comfortable with breaking its own rules. INEC must understand that compliance with the Electoral Act is not optional. Nigerians deserve credible elections, not a succession of excuses designed to prepare them for a predetermined outcome.”