A Civic hub committed to the promotion of democratic governance, human rights and civic engagement on the aegis of Yiaga Africa, has declared that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) under the immediate past Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, has become too weak and politicised.
This was as Yiaga Africa stressed that Prof. Yakubu’s exit marked a critical moment for Nigeria, as the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu prepares to appoint a new chairman for the electoral commission.
The organisation which is inclined to electoral issues, stressed that what INEC needs at this critical time are leaders with impeccable character who can resist political pressure, adding that the future of credible elections depends on it.
Yiaga Africa emphasised that the decline was in spite of the reforms introduced under the leadership of immediate past Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu.
Yiaga Africa pointedly said that the Commission failed to assert its independence as it ought to be and therefore missed opportunities to protect the integrity of the process.
Executive Director of Yiaga Africa, Mr. Samson Itodo, who stated these while speaking on Channels Television on Wednesday, October 8, 2025, specifically said that political interference and loss of public trust clearly overshadowed most of the achievements by the Commission under Yakubu.
Itodo noted that the 10-year tenure of Prof. Yakubu was a mixed bag of the good and the ugly with the later overshadowing the former owing to so much interference which the leadership of the commission succumbed to.
In the words of Itodo; “INEC today is weak because of political interference and trust in the system is at its lowest ebb since the 2023 elections.
“The many controversies around the voters’ register, failure to sanction compromised officials, and the commission’s inconsistent application of its guidelines are clear evidences of declining institutional credibility.
“Nigerians no longer believe their votes will count, and that is a dangerous place for our democracy,” he stressed.
Yiaga Africa however, acknowledged that Yakubu introduced landmark innovations, especially in the use of technology but were not effectively deployed into use.
Itodo said; “The BVAS and IReV were game changers. For the first time, Nigerians could track results online, and accreditation integrity improved significantly. These are remarkable reforms, but we have not maximised their potential because of political actors”.
