The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is not to blame for the low turnout of voters during the last FCT elections on Saturday.
The commission did everything practicable for people to come out and vote but INEC is often blamed for that.
INEC National Commissioner, Malam Muhammed Haruna, disclosed this when he fielded questions on Trust TV programme ‘30 Minutes with Mannir Dan-Ali.
Haruna said INEC’s basic responsibility is civic education, to tell people how to vote but the onus of turnout lies with the political parties.
“They have members. At least when they give us a list of their members, there are hundreds, if not millions. So they are the ones – we can’t tell people, go out and vote for X, Y, Z. And the bit that we will do, of course, we can do a bit more.“
Haruna said the calls for the removal of the INEC chairman Prof Joash Amupitan on his position on Christian genocide, is what has happened in the past, adding that what is important is the future.
“We all have our biases. We all have our prejudices. The important thing is, do you allow it to get in the way of your being objective in your current assignment? It’s something that, you know, we’ll have to give him the benefit of doubt,” he said.
According to him, the prerogative to confirm such an appointment is that of the president and the Senators, and they’ve gone ahead in their own wisdom to do that and going by the elections that Amupitan has conducted and the meetings they’ve had so far, “I’m inclined to give him the benefit of doubt.”
Haruna lamented that the change in the 2027 election time table has reduced the period for preparations this posing a fresh challenge for the Independent |National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Haruna said the adjustment is going to make things bit more difficult for INEC as one of the biggest achievements of the Commission under Professor Mahmood Yakubu was the 360 days the commission had to plan ahead of elections.
The Senate amended the Electoral Act to avoid a clash with the Ramadan fasting period which reduced the notice period for elections from 360 days to 300 days.
The INEC commissioner said “for the first time, at least since 1999, we were able to print all the ballot papers we needed, all the resources we needed inside. Within Nigeria. Not outside,” adding that “this is is a big advantage that we are now throwing away.”
According to him, the 2026 Electoral Act limited the method of nomination of candidates to two; consensus and direct primary, saying this is because with consensus, a lot of things could be going on under the table the commission may not be aware of, whereas INEC can only deal with what is out there on the table.
