Human rights activist and lawyer Chidi Odinkalu has raised serious concerns about the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) ability to conduct credible elections in 2027 under the leadership of Chairman Joash Amupitan.
Speaking on Politics Today on Monday, Odinkalu reviewed the recently concluded area council elections in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), describing INEC’s performance as a “woeful failure.”
“Amupitan’s INEC failed. On this evidence, nobody can trust him to organise credible elections in 2027,” Odinkalu said, emphasising that the shortcomings observed were primarily administrative rather than legal.
“There’s nothing else to it; it is not about the law. It is about the failure of will, the failure of electoral administration,” he added.
Odinkalu criticised INEC’s handling of election logistics in the FCT, highlighting poor coordination and the reassignment of voters to new polling units without proper notification—a move he said disenfranchised many eligible citizens.
The former chairman of the National Human Rights Commission urged electoral officials to prepare adequately for their responsibilities or step aside for those capable of delivering credible polls.
Responding to claims that it may be premature to judge Amupitan, who assumed office late last year, Odinkalu noted the chairman’s prior experience, including oversight of a governorship election in Anambra State.
He called on INEC to acknowledge its mistakes and apologise, stating, “Amupitan can tell Nigerians that ‘I take personal responsibility, this is a chastening experience. I am learning, some of these things I saw cannot happen on my watch.’”
Odinkalu stressed that Nigerians are not demanding perfection but expect tangible evidence of commitment to improvement. “A chairperson of INEC who is committed to credible elections would admit that there are failures that should never have happened and will say, ‘We will do something about it,’” he said, urging citizen involvement in addressing the identified lapses.
This critique comes amid growing public scrutiny of INEC’s preparedness for the 2027 general elections, with concerns about vote-buying, logistical gaps, and administrative inefficiencies threatening the credibility of future polls.
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