…as 16 multilateral and international agencies counsel Nigeria ahead 2027 polls
By Our Reporter
Several key Development Partners supporting Nigeria’s electoral process have issued a strong caution to the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Joash Ojo Amupitan, SAN, urging him to strictly adhere to the provisions of the Electoral Act in handling candidate substitutions ahead of the upcoming general elections.
The partners, who have longer collaborated with INEC on electoral reforms, capacity building and transparency initiatives, emphasised that the Commission must remain guided solely by the law and not yield to any external pressures, including alleged “presidential or big-man orders.”
Findings revealed that the INEC Development Partners comprise multilateral and international agencies such as United Nations Development Programme, World Bank, European Union, Commonwealth Secretariat and Economic Community of West African States, African Union Commission, Electoral Institute for Sustainable Democracy in Africa, European Centre for Electoral Support and Foundations and Democracy-Support Organisations.
Others are: International Foundation for Electoral Systems, International IDEA, Ford Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, Westminster Foundation for Democracy, International Republican Institute and DAI Global.
Their supports, it was gathered, typically cover election management and technical assistance, staff training and capacity building, voter education, election technology support, research and post-election review processes and democratic governance programmes.
Sources close to the matter told journalists that the caution came during high-level engagements and consultative meetings amid growing controversy over the All Progressives Congress, APC, National Working Committee’s (NWC) recent attempt to substitute approximately 26 National Assembly candidates after the conclusion of INEC-monitored primaries.