Electoral Reform: INEC sidelined in key debate – Igini

By Lawrence Agbo

Mike Igini, a former Independent National Electoral Commission resident electoral commissioner, has called the current outbreak of the argument over electronic transmission of election results a “painful and sad reality,” arguing that the matter should have been settled years ago.

Speaking as a guest on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Monday, Igini criticizes what he described as a setback in Nigeria’s electoral reform efforts.

referencing reforms that began during the tenure of a former INEC chairman, Attahiru Jega, and continued under subsequent leadership he said “It’s a painful and sad reality that after several years of collective efforts to give meaning and purpose to the ballots as the best means of expressing the will of the people in a democracy, here we are again, several years after debating what had been long supposed to have been settled.”

The former REC also expressed personal displeasure with the present status of electoral reform, stating that recent events feel “wasted” after three decades of advocacy and roughly ten years on the commission.

Additionally, he argued that the electoral body itself had been mainly ignored.

“This debate, INEC is absent in this debate. INEC is isolated. It is INEC that conducts elections… the commission is expected to speak,” he said, adding that the commission had previously addressed issues surrounding electronic transmission.

He emphasized the necessity for lawmakers to take lessons from the past and cautioned that restoring uncertainty around electronic transmission could pose significant issues ahead of the 2027 general elections.

Concerns about network constraints should not stop reforms, Igini added, and the Result Viewing portal (IReV) should have clear legal support.