The former Minister of Education, Dr. Oby Ezekwesili, said INEC should be made financially and operationally autonomous to conduct credible elections devoid of political manipulation.
Speaking at the National Electoral Reforms Summit 2025, themed “Critical Constitutional Amendments for Credible Election in 2027,” and held in Abuja, Ezekwesili insisted that INEC should get its budgetary allocations directly, without going through the executive arm of government, so that such independence would insulate the commission from undue political influence and allow for timely and transparent election planning.
For her, INEC one of the institutions “bedevilled by corruption” should adopt open budgeting and spending principles with civil society tracking its expenditures as a way of increasing accountability.
Ezekwesili further called for the strengthening of INEC’s prosecutorial powers, noting that the current reliance on the police and the Attorney-General to prosecute electoral offences has undermined justice and emboldened electoral malpractice.
“The lack of any credible investigations and convictions of electoral offences has created a culture where there is no penalty for bad behaviour,” she said.
She added that electronic transmission of results should be made compulsory, as any clear legal provisions would prevent any kind of manipulations reportedly witnessed in the 2023 elections. She also recommended extended timelines for voter registration and election preparation to improve quality and accessibility.
Ezekwesili’s suggestions on appointments into INEC included a transparent, merit-based process with the active participation of civil society, with staggered tenures to prevent ‘wholesale’ changes and a career structure for staff to reduce reliance on ad-hoc workers.
The former minister also called for stiffer punishment for electoral offences, speedy resolution of disputes, and clear powers for INEC to instruct the security agencies during elections, to avoid political meddling.
Speaking to the role of the judiciary, she decried what she has called “courtroom democracy,” where electoral results are increasingly decided in courts rather than at the ballot box.
“Our courts must understand that technicalities over substance devalue our democracy,” she said.
Speaking during the event, former Rivers State governor Rotimi Amaechi said that without active participation of the citizenry, electoral reforms would remain an illusion. According to him, only public resistance can force the hand of the government to introduce genuine reforms.
Amaechi also decried the absence of accountability and rule of law in the country, warning that the current political system enriches a few at the expense of the majority.
However, former Kaduna Central senator Shehu Sani countered Amaechi, saying he should not absolve himself from the failings of a government he had served in for years. The summit, organized by the National Consultative Front/Labour and Civil Society Front in conjunction with the Movement for Credible Elections, brought together political leaders and reform advocates to plot a path toward credible elections in 2027.
