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From Femi Folaranmi, Yenagoa
The Nigerian Political Science Association (NPSA), has said that the flawed conduct of the recent by-elections in Nigeria is not a positive sign for election management as Nigeria inches closer to the 2027 general elections.
NPSA, in its review of the election conducted across 12 states by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), noted that the conduct of elections in the country was still far from meeting acceptable standards.
The group, in a statement by its President, Prof. Hassan Saliu, entitled “2025 By-elections, Political Parties, and a Gaze at the 2027 Electoral Cycle,” pointed out that the flawed conduct of the elections was evident in the recriminations by political parties that followed after the exercise.
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NPSA, which stated that INEC was not above the fray in the flawed process, lamented that the deployment of technology remains a challenge in the conduct of the country’s elections.
While indicting political parties for their involvement in the flawed process, the group admitted that the power of incumbency is a source of concern in the conduct of elections in Nigeria.
“The country’s political parties have more to learn in conduct, organisation, and in mobilising citizens for robust electoral engagement and turning out en masse on Election Day. Every INEC chairman has lamented the unedifying role of the registered political parties in the electoral process, which they consider a threat to free and fair elections. Politics is still akin to a “war” for the country’s politicians, wherein morally repressive measures are resorted to swing votes. These were observed during the by-elections. The stakeholders in the electoral process must note this dimension and find a solution to it before the 2027 general elections,” Saliu said.
