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• Seek details of printers, contracts, redeployments
From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and the African Democratic Congress (ADC) have demanded greater transparency from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) over the production and custody of sensitive materials for the 2027 general election as well as recent personnel postings in some of the commission’s strategic departments.
Atiku, in a statement by the Director of Strategic Communication of the ADC Presidential Campaign Council (PCC), Phrank Shaibu, specifically asked INEC to disclose the companies engaged to print sensitive election materials, the procurement process and the security arrangements surrounding their production, storage and delivery.
Separately, the ADC, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, asked INEC to clarify allegations that recent redeployments in strategic departments may have favoured officials from the South-West at the expense of personnel from other parts of the country.
Atiku said reported changes in the Electoral Operations, Voter Registry and Information and Communication Technology departments raised questions that INEC needed to address openly.
According to him, “reports indicate that Director Isa Magaji Gum was moved from Electoral Operations to the Voter Registry Department, while Mrs Oluyemi Titilayo Adeyemi-Showunmi was appointed to head Electoral Operations. Dr Lawrence Bayode has also been identified as the head of Information and Communication Technology (ICT).
“These departments are at the heart of election administration. INEC must explain these decisions, publish the criteria applied and show that every appointment and redeployment followed due process, was based on merit and was free from political interference. Nigerians will not accept vague assurances on matters this serious.”
The former Vice President said no official should be presumed compromised on account of ethnicity, background or association, but maintained that where appointments or reported political connections raised public concern, INEC had a duty to provide verifiable assurances that its impartiality was protected.
He also demanded that the commission “categorically confirm or deny whether Hitech or any company associated with Hitech has been awarded a contract to print sensitive materials for the 2027 general election.”
Atiku claimed that information available to him suggested that more than half of INEC’s sensitive election materials, including presidential ballot materials, might have been allocated to a company whose identity and credentials had not been publicly disclosed and which he said was believed to be based in France.
He also expressed concern over reports that the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Plc (NSPMC) might be handling printing for only between 15 and 17 states, while the remainder would be shared among private printers.
“These reports demand urgent and unequivocal answers. INEC must confirm or deny them and publish the names of every company engaged, the materials and states assigned to each, the procurement method, the security clearances obtained and the safeguards governing production, storage and delivery.
“Nigerians should not have to depend on unnamed sources to discover who is producing their ballots.”
Atiku further argued that any award of sensitive election-material contracts to Hitech or a company associated with it would raise questions about INEC’s neutrality because of what he described as publicly reported business ties between the Chagoury family and President Bola Tinubu’s family.
“The integrity of INEC in the forthcoming election will be seriously compromised if Hitech or a company associated with it is awarded a contract to produce sensitive election materials.
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“INEC has a moral obligation to disclose the identities of the companies awarded these contracts, particularly if the printing is not being undertaken by the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Plc.”
Atiku added that if Hitech or any associated company had been selected, INEC should disclose the contract value, scope of work, procurement method, capacity and security arrangements and allow political parties meaningful scrutiny of the process.
“If neither Hitech nor a company associated with it has been selected, INEC must say so clearly and put the matter beyond doubt,” he stated.
The former VP also urged INEC to make maximum use of qualified domestic security-printing capacity and ensure that every ballot paper, result sheet and other sensitive material was protected by a transparent chain of custody.
He warned that the 2027 election “cannot be business as usual”, insisting that Nigerians would resist any attempt to subvert their votes through lawful and democratic means.
“Let there be no mistake: Nigerians will not accept a stolen election. Any attempt to rig the 2027 polls will be met with determined resistance through the ballot, lawful civic action and every other democratic channel available to the people,” he said.
In its separate statement, the ADC said it was in possession of what it described as intelligence and “direct complaints” about recent personnel changes and redeployments in some strategic INEC departments and stations.
The party claimed that several officers from the North who had served in departments such as Electoral Operations and ICT were being moved and replaced by officials from Lagos and other South-West states.
“We have specific names of officers moved from Electoral Operations and ICT in a number of northern states and replaced with officers from Lagos and other South-West states. INEC may dismiss this as routine. But we have noticed a pattern, especially along ethnic lines, and we are concerned.”
The ADC stressed that it was not, at this stage, accusing INEC of any “nefarious” plan, but said every allegation capable of undermining public confidence in the electoral umpire deserved a clear response.
“Especially if those allegations border on sectional bias that could actively undermine the neutrality of election officials and the Commission’s own impartiality.
“Regardless of the Commission’s motives, questions about regional concentration in sensitive departments cannot be brushed aside as routine administrative matters. And concentrating strategic operational appointments in a manner that suggests ethnic or sectional bias to give an advantage to President Tinubu and the APC must not be ignored,” the party stated.
Consequently, the ADC urged INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, to publish details of the affected postings, the criteria used and the reasons for the changes.
It said such disclosure was necessary to reassure Nigerians across the country that the commission would administer the 2027 elections fairly and that no voter’s electoral choice would be undermined on account of language, ethnicity or region.
