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Former Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission, Chidi Odinkalu, has criticised the conduct of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, elections, describing the performance of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, as a failure.
Speaking on Politics Today on Channels Television on Monday, Odinkalu said the commission under the INEC Chairman, Joash Amupitan, failed to deliver a credible exercise.
Odinkalu argued that the shortcomings were not rooted in legal constraints but in what he described as a failure of will and poor electoral administration.
He said it was troubling that such lapses occurred in what he described as a relatively small election in the FCT, warning that the issues raised concerns about the commission’s preparedness for future polls.
Odinkalu said: “INEC failed. Amupitan’s INEC failed woefully. And on this evidence, nobody can trust Josh to organize credible elections in 2027 good stuff. There is nothing else to it, okay?
“No, it’s not about the law. It is about the failure of will. It’s a failure of electoral administration. And no, I’m actually not far from painting a gloomy picture of elections in Nigeria. I’m actually saying that the picture is far from gloomy. The election administrators have got to do their homework, and if they are not willing to do their homework, they should get the hell out.
“But one, electoral logistics were poor. Number two, the management of electoral rules were poor.
“You reassigned people to different electoral units, polling units, with few hours to elections. No education, no investment in voter education or information management, nothing.
“Number three, the violence was unacceptable. Four results manifestly were changed in different places. Collation glitched on the day. This is in a small election in the Federal Capital Territory. This is disgraceful. Joash failed.”
